Forgetting
by EmMcD Black
Summary: Delving into the lives of the characters of Harry Potter and Twilight after their respective series leave off... experimenting with the combination of the two. Intended as crack, turning out overly serious. Bah. I think I'm giving up soon...
1. Prologue Renesmee Gets a Letter

Harry Potter/ Twilight Crossover.

You know it'll be awful.

You know you want it to be.

A/N: I don't own the fabulous series this is set in, and I don't own the okay series it's merged with. If you read my pro, you probably know which is which already.

I'm not sure what the plot of this story is going to be... I'm kind of winging it. And mostly goofing off. It's midnight. I'm not putting it through my beautiful beta until it's on the site, cuz I kinda just want to get it up. So here's the prologue... enjoy :)

(also, I talk about Jacob being dead. I thought this was a good idea, even though it makes me super duper sad. Read the beginning of miss you so much, by EdwardsLily, and you'll get the basics of how he died, which is where I got my idea. I don't feel like going into it at the moment, but maybe I'll make up my own version later in the story. But hers is really well written, so yeah. Anyways...)

Prologue

Renesmee was crying. This was something she had been doing a lot lately. Without Jacob... it seemed as though she couldn't smile. Every time something reminded her of him... tears would sting her eyes, roll down her flawless cheeks.

Daddy was getting upset. It wasn't easy for him to see someone he loved in so much pain, and Renesmee knew that. He had caused so much pain for Mama, that he felt as though his family had suffered enough.

It had been a month since the fight. A fight fought for her... the third one in eleven years of her life. She was starting to get annoyed. She stood up, thinking of how Mama had said to deal with this. Focus on everything good in your life. Keep your mind off of him. Block him out.

Maybe that had worked for Mama, once, but it wasn't working for Renesmee. She wanted to think of him. She wanted to see him in her mind's eye. She wanted... him. More than anything. She had never spent more than six hours away from him. She heard the door to the empty cottage open. Not empty anymore.

"Nessie?" Edward called, sounding excited.

"Dad." Nessie whispered. She knew he knew where she was. He just wanted verbal acknowledgement, so that he could come into her room with out feeling as though he were intruding. He was in her room in an instant, grinning broadly.

"Renesmee, look what just came for you!" Her father said excitedly, holding out a thick, cream colored envelope. It was adressed to her. She stepped towards her father, dusting off her mother's pink and grey striped sweater dress, a little dusty from sitting on the floor. Now that she could fit into Mom's clothes, she was wearing them all the time. Aunt Alice was pleased.

"What is it?" She asked in a dull voice.

"A letter... from Hogwarts!" Edward said, smiling so hugely that Renesmee wondered how it fit on his face.

"Hogwarts?" She asked, taking the letter from him. Hogwarts. It sounded familiar... but she couldn't put her finger on it.

It sounded like a disease.

End of Prologue.

A/N: Okay, depressing prologue. Nessie's going to get more interesting from now on, but the next chapter is Harry. He'll be all grown up, Minister of Magic, with kids and all that, and Nessie will be in his son James' first year. Bumbumbumbum....


	2. Chapter One The OTHER Minister

**A/N: This one was my second biggest hit- The Only Wrong one was a close first. Since I don't have any more of The Only Wrong One to post right now, I figured I would throw this out so you guys have something by me to read. So here's chapter 2- Harry. Bumbumbumbum.... **

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Chapter 2

"Ahem." The small portrait on the wall coughed. The Prime Minister jumped. Not again. That was the third time this week. He was _not _supposed to be seeing this much of the _other _Minister at all. And the other Minister had just told the Prime Minister two weeks ago that the War the latter had never known about was over. So why had he been seeing so much of Harry Potter?

"Yes, yes, send him in." The Prime Minister muttered to the portrait, cursing himself for his insanity.

"Hello, Prime Minister." Harry said politely, stepping out of the fireplace with a small boy who resembled him greatly and wiping his glasses on his robes. The Prime Minister stared at the boy.

"Who's that?" He asked rudely, and Harry smiled.

"I'm sorry I didn't introduce him sooner," He said, then pushed the boy forward, "This is my son, James. He wanted to tag along to my work today, and we were just heading home when I remembered I had to tell you about a girl his age who will be starting at Hogwarts- the Wizarding school, you know- on September first with him." Harry finished, and the Prime Minister stared at him.

"So what's the deal with this girl?" He asked stupidly, and Harry smiled graciously again.

"Well, I'm going to ask you to sit down, Prime Minister, and here," he swished his wand, and two full goblets of brandy appeared, one for the Prime Minister and one for Harry. Harry began drinking his, and the Prime Minister's floated absently near his head, the Prime Minister did his best to ignore this as Harry went on, "have a drink. I always think things are a bit easier to endure with a drink. Something my Headmaster taught me while I was at school." Harry said, winking. James was wandering around the Prime Minister's office now, studying all the portraits with great interest, and commenting on how they didn't move. The Prime Minister remained silent.

"Well, it's procedure to let you know when I'm bringing creatures that may be of danger to you into the country. This particular set of creatures do not enjoy being referred to as such... well, I'll get to that later. I'll fill you in first. There is a... family of people from America who will be moving here in September so that their youngest member can attend our school. The reason I need to inform you of their arrival is because... well, because they are vampires, mate," Harry said, grinning as the Prime Minister choked on a lemon drop he had been sucking on. The brandy next to his head was growing more and more violent, and Harry was amused. He guessed that the Prime Minister's choking was partly because of the statement Harry had just made, partly because of the brandy, bouncing up and down on top of the Prime Minister's head as though it was an exercise trampoline. The Prime Minister was silent once more. James was now having an animated conversation with the portrait in the corner- the only portrait that moved.

"Well anyways... the vampire community had their own sort of ministry for this sort of thing, and I had a rather pleasant visit with them recently," Harry frowned, remembering how unpleasant that visit with the Volturi had in fact been, "and they assure me that the family is harmless. They won't be attacking anyone, they hunt animals, not people. So you really have nothing to worry about. I just have to let you know. Procedure, you know." Harry finished, waving his wand just then so that the goblet of brandy stopped trying to strangle the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister looked grateful, then took a moment to gather what Harry had said.

"Oh. Well if that's all." The Prime Minister said, glaring at Harry.

"Yes, that's all. Would it be alright with you if I left now?" Harry asked, smiling politely.

"Yes. That. Would. Be. Perfect." The Prime Minister growled, and Harry pulled his son towards the fireplace, sniggering as the Prime Minister dabbed at a brandy stain on his white shirt.

"It would have been better manners to drink it, you know!" Harry quoted Albus Dumbledore as he was whirled away into the green flames, and he heard the Prime Minister spit out a stream of curse words at him before he stepped onto the threshold of his own home, where Ginny was waiting, Lily on her hip and Albus at her side. James ran to his brother and started spilling out a description of the day he had had. Lily practically leapt into her father's arms, and he kissed her on the cheek before letting her down to play with her toy firebolt. Ginny kissed Harry, and about an hour later they were sitting down to dinner, laughing at Harry's story about his visit to the Prime Minister.

Everything was as normal as it could be with a clan of nine vampires moving in next door in a week.

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**I loved this chapter the most because of how much Harry was channeling Dumbledore... I wasn't doing that on purpose until a few paragraphs in, when I realized what I had been unintentionally doing. Hope y'all liked it as much as I did. :)**


	3. Chapter Two The Cullens Read A Letter

**A/N: I don't really have much to say, but I feel like I owe it to all of you to explain that how things work in this story are going to get very confusing, and if there's anything you don't understand you should say so in a review, and if I was planning on waiting to give you more details until later, I will disregard it, but if it really hadn't crossed my mind, I'll explain it in an author's note or slip it in.**

Chapter Three

"They must be joking," Rosalie seethed, baring her teeth and tossing the much-worn piece of parchment aside. Edward grinned at her displeasure, as he often had lately, due to her casual attitude towards his daughter's depression. He knew, from her thoughts, that it was all a show, that she thought it would help Nessie, but he also knew from Renesmee's thoughts that it wasn't helping at all, and neither of them would listen to him. It had started to make him worry that they were losing faith in all the knowledge his gift could provide. Bella was lounging on an armchair, watching her daughter sleep on the sofa, her face a muddled, confused mess, even in sleep.

"They're not. It explains everything in the letter," Edward said.

"I know the _school's _not joking, Ed," Rosalie said icily, "Honestly, you can be so daft, for someone who knows everything," she rolled her eyes, before continuing, "I just meant that life has thrown so much at Renesmee, how can they honestly expect her to handle one more thing on her plate? And it doesn't help that she'll be far older and much more mature than any of the other kids there," Rosalie said, glancing at her niece, whose dreams you could almost taste on the air in the room.

Everyone else had noticed this, as well, and, while they were unhappy she was still having nightmares, they could tell that finally she was dreaming of something else. She was having nightmares about Hogwarts, rather than her beloved.

She was going to attend school. She had gone along a few years with her parents, pretending to be their sibling, but this was different. Her mom and dad would not be there this time. She would face whatever it was awaited her at this school all by herself.

It was enough to scare anyone.

"It will be good for her. I'm... so happy. It really will provide a good distraction from... recent events, and maybe she'll start being more like her old self," Edward murmured hopefully. Bella, who had rarely spoken anyway since Jacob's death, except to her husband, her daughter, and Alice, flexed her shield so he could see what she was thinking, and he nodded subtly. No one noticed the exchange, for Carlisle had begun to re-read the letter, out loud.

"_Dear Ms. Cullen,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. _

_Please find enclosed a list of all necessary clothes and equipment._

_Term begins September 1__st__ . _

_You will also find enclosed a note explaining the situation to your family, who we have heard are more than apt at adjusting to changes like this one._

_We await your owl by no later than July 31__st__._

_Signed,_

_Rubeus Hagrid_

_Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"_

Carlisle frowned.

"Edward. It says there's another note." He pointed out. Edward looked innocent, and, keeping his voice even, replied.

"It does say that, doesn't it?" He mused calmly, and Rosalie growled, not enjoying seeing her creator being antagonized, and, since she had been thinking the same thing, upset that he was so casual about the thing that was bothering them the most at that point.

Edward, of course, had already explained everything to them, because apparantly, he had had the privilege of having read the note. The rest of them only had his word for everything that was going on.

"Edward," Emmett growled, angry at Rosalie's angry expression. Edward rolled his eyes, casually extracting a slip of paper from his pocket, crumpling it neatly into a ball, and tossing it so it bounced off of Emmett's overly large head. Emmett laughed heartily, pretending the paper had wounded him terribly, and Carlisle deftly caught the parchment, which, the occupants of the room noticed upon him uncrumpling it, was considerably longer than the other one. Carlisle scanned it quickly in silence, grinned, and then read it aloud.

"_Dear Cullens,_

_My name is Harry Potter, although you may know me as the Minister of Magic. Oh, wait, the whole point of me writing this letter was to explain that to you, so you probably don't have a flying Crumple Horned Snorkack who I am. Maybe I should fill you in._

_I presume my dear friend Rubeus Hagrid will be sending this on to you with your daughter's acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, so I'll fill you in straight away on what may have eluded and confused you about that letter. _

_Hogwarts, as you may have gathered, is a school for Witchcraft and Wizardry, a school to which Renesmee Cullen, your youngest member, has just been accepted. Turns out, she's a witch, which would probably explain why she's been accepted at a school specializing in Witchcraft. _

_I'm not meaning to insult you by calling your daughter a witch, so please don't take offence. I'm not pulling your leg, or anything, either, because she really is a witch- that is to say, she can do magic. If you head to London this very second and procure a wand from a shop called Ollivander's, at which my dear friend Luna now works, and place the wand in Renesmee's hand, she will be able to shoot curses and hexes and jinxes at people. Well, it will take a little training for her to do that, at first all she'll be able to do is shoot sparks. My son blew up the shop quite spectacularly when he got his wand. _

_Now, the reason that I am writing to you specially is because, you being a rather large clan of vampires (yes, I know about that, I know a lot about you, thanks to your lovely friends in Italy. Aro wishes for me to say hello to Carlisle for him.), it is worrisome for you to move to the country- even if it is just one of your number, though from what the Volturi told me, all of you will wish to move. _

_The Volturi also assured me that you are no danger to anyone in the country, but it is the procedure of the Ministry of Magic to make sure that you will not either give us away or endanger defenseless Muggles- humans who lack magical abilities- as our existence depends on secrecy, as, I hear, does yours. _

_I'm not particularly worried about this, but I've only been Minister for a year, and if I start being careless now, I won't be reelected. Actually, being careless sounds like a wonderful idea..._

_If you do happen to move to the general area of my reign, I would like to meet you and arrange some things. It would also be lovely for me to speak to Renesmee. I've heard that she has the appearance of someone roughly twice her age, and if she'd like we could find a way around that, and I would love to meet her personally. _

_I think that about sums it up. The owl who delivered this is my wife's, and she has been taught to stick around until she gets a response, so feel free to ponder, just make sure you let her out to hunt if you take too long to write back. _

_Ta!_

_Harry Potter, Minister of Magic."_

Everyone in the room, save for four people (Edward and Bella, who had already read it, Alice, who knew what it contained, and Renesmee, who was fast asleep.) who looked quite bored, stared at Carlisle, who was, himself, staring at Alice. Alice was the first to break the silence.

"Yes, I knew weeks ago all this was coming. Now can anyone tell me what on earth a Crumple Horned Snorkack is? I couldn't find a reference to them _anywhere _online," She said, tugging on the hem of her designer skirt and pondering how she had been wearing it for roughly six hours. It would be about time to change soon.

"I'm more concerned with there being a whole part of the world we don't know about," Emmett said, "I thought Edward knew everything."

Edward, this having been the second time in fifteen minutes he had heard this, banged his head on the wall. Rosalie sniggered, snaking her arm around Emmett's waist. Renesmee shuddered in her sleep, but kept sleeping, and no one could tell whether it had been mere coincidence and her dream had made her shudder just then, or if Edward's head banging had woken her the slightest bit.

"So," Bella said quietly, "Are we moving to England?" This question caused her to receive some very questioning looks, and she glanced at Edward, raising her eyebrows.

Edward coughed.

"Carlisle?" Esme said from the kitchen, and Carlisle shrugged.

"You two certainly can, but it's up to everyone else if they want to join. Everyone has rather been enjoying their time on Isle Esme, I thought." Carlisle said, uncomfortable, as usual, that they wanted to have him make the decision.

Everyone in the room was silent, pondering. Once again, Alice broke the silence.

"Could you please make up your minds?" She asked, her voice shooting daggers at Emmett and Rosalie.

Bella looked at her.

"I'm sorry, but it's driving me crazy! They're coming with us, they're not, they're coming with us, they're not. I wish they would just decide!" Alice collapsed to the floor in exhaustion, throwing an arm over her eyes.

Edward raised an eyebrow at her, which he knew she could see.

"Well of course I'm coming along," Alice said, sitting up on her elbows and rolling her eyes at him, "And Jasper goes wherever I do. Esme and Carlisle have been wanting to go back to England for a while now, I have a hunch they won't be too hesitant to join us, and that just leaves those two _morons_ who can't make up their _minds_." Alice explained, flopping back to the floor.

"Alice," Rosalie hissed, her eyes murderous. Alice leapt up from her spot on the floor, planting her lips onto Jasper's, then turning to Edward and Bella.

"They're coming!" She said, jumping up and down and clapping. Bella smiled in relief, she really had grown close to Rose and would have been sad if she wasn't coming.

"So that's all settled then," Carlisle said, grinning, "We can grab a flight to London next week, meet Harry Potter, and buy all Nessie's things. It'll be perfect."

"Yes," Chorused Edward, Bella, Alice, and Esme, "It will be."

Emmett and Rosalie had gone off in a corner and had already begun stripping each other down, so they had no response. Jasper was, as usual, silent. And Alice skipped to the computers to look for more answers about Crumple Horned Snorkacks.

**A/N: I hope to have the next few chapters up sometime next week, but I am very busy, as summers go, so I'm sorry if it takes much longer. Thank you for four WHOLE reviews, and you better give me a lot more, or Edward will mysteriously disappear, Bella will run off with Harry, Ginny will kill herself, and many other bad things will happen. I'm sure we all don't want that, so please, try for a little more effort. I know there are more people reading it than are reviewing, so drop me a line or SOMETHING after you read it, or I will kill everyone. **

**EVERYONE. Reviews also encourage more frequent postings, and anyone who does review gets the privilege of curling up in a corner with a very quiet Jasper and getting down to things without any talking.**

**Ta!**

**A/N #2: Got a lot of reviews, haven't had time to add yet, I hope it sends an alert to y'all that I changed this. I just wanted to say that a certain someone will be getting their own prefect in the story. Bitten and Smitten, PM me and let me know what you want your name to be. I love everyone who reviewed, and once we get to ten reviews (only two more, come on people!) things are going to get a lot more interesting ;) **

**So if you really want me to add more, find a way to get me two more reviews =)**


	4. Chapter Three Nine Vampires and A Wizard

**A/N: WOW! I'm really, really sorry for posting that false chapter last weekend, but look at what it got me! Nineteen reviews! I'm blushing ;). And some really, really great ones, too. I'm really glad you guys are liking it, and I'd like to give special acknowledgement to Bitten and Smitten, who was the most enthusiastic of my first reviewers, apart from Lily, who doesn't need special acknowledgement because the simple fact of me being on this website is all thanks to her, and she knows that. Bitten and Smitten, I'm still offering you your own character, please PM me as soon as possible, because once they get to Hogwarts, it'll be too late, and I need a name! **

**Okay, because I'm too lazy to PM each and every one of you, and I'm still getting used to this site...**

**Turquoise Blue 14- I killed Jacob because Nessie's life is better when it's not perfect. Thank you for my ninth review, you rock!**

**Emeraldgoldchocolate- Bella is not dead, but I'm seriously considering it. I'll definitely slide you in there, but you'll have to figure out who you are. ;)**

**ladybug44- Why didn't I give you your own personal acknowledgement? You're a sweetie. But I can't possibly be as good as you're saying I am, because I suck. But thank you for the support. **

**Misti D- It is a capital offense not to have read the final Harry Potter book, so it is with enourmous reluctance that I fill you in: we do not know what Harry ended up doing with his life, it never says. Now go read the damn book, weirdo. I'll only read your story if you promise me you started Deathly Hallows. So go get that freakin book. **

**Everyone else: Sorry you didn't get your personal acknowledgement, maybe if I get a more interesting review from you, I'll mention you. And thank all of you for all of your help- now I'll shut up so you can read chapter 3 :)**

Chapter Three

Harry Potter had only met one vampire before, and the idea of having nine of them in the small, enclosed space that was his office was, admittedly, a little frightening. Ginny had worried about it all week, and had almost called him in sick that morning, too afraid to let him go in to, quite possibly, meet his death.

Harry had rolled his eyes at her, pointing out that he had, in fact, destroyed Voldemort, and that she needn't worry. She had then glared at him for bringing it up, since he was the one who didn't like to talk about it, and then it had been time for him to leave.

Ron and Hermione met him outside his house, and they walked together to the safe Disapparation point, chit chatting about the upcoming school year. Harry was the only one who had a child starting, but everyone was going with he and Ginny to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, because they hadn't been in so long.

Ron filled Harry in on a raid he had done the previous night, and then promised to get the paperwork in later that day, grumbling about how being an Auror was a bit too much like an office job. Hermione headed off to her job in Magical Law Enforcement, and Harry went to the much-too-small Minister's office. He squeezed into the chair behind the tiny desk, and vanished all of his papers to the back of the office, then leafed through the flock of memos that was fluttering around near his head.

Nothing interesting, just the usual notices about the different departments. There was a new piece of magic being developed in the Department of Mysteries, and they had made new discoveries in the Chamber of Death. As usual, at the mention of the place of his godfather's death, Harry felt a stab of pain, followed by thoughts of Teddy. He shook them off, focusing on a memo about the War.

_Minister: _

_We have captured someone who is believed to be a former Death Eater. Please appear at questioning on July 28__th__ at ten o clock. _

_It is believed that S. Shunpike was involved in crimes against the Ministry and the Wizarding Population eighteen years ago in the War against Voldemort. Evidence to follow. _

_D. Malfoy_

_Auror_

Harry sighed, then scribbled a lengthy response, yelling at Malfoy because he _knew_ who was and wasn't a Death Eater, and the Head of the Auror Department for letting Stan be accused. He rubbed his temples, then chucked the memo out of the magic window on the opposite wall, where it disappeared with a _whoosh_ as though it were being sucked through a tube.

"Mr. Minister--" A cool woman's voice came through the ceiling.

"Harry." Harry corrected automatically, but the voice continued, disregarding the Minister.

"--the Cullens have just arrived downstairs, but they aren't due for an hour." The cool voice said. Harry nodded, even though the voice couldn't see him.

"Send them up." He mumbled, and the voice coughed its agreement.

Harry's heart pounded when he realised that nine vampires were about to sit down in his office.

"Actually, have them wait in reception. Could you send me Hermione?" Harry said to the empty room, and again the voice agreed. There was silence, and then Hermione strode through Harry's door, a flock of memos following her.

"Harry?" She said crisply, smiling at him.

"Hey, 'Mione. I was wondering if you could do me a favor." Harry said, leaning back in his chair and conjuring one for her.

"Sure. What do you need?" Hermione asked, and Harry pursed his lips.

"There are nine vampires in reception waiting to see me," Harry began, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Nine vampires? You sure are brave. Are you sure you're not Gilderoy Lockhart?" She asked, her tone mocking.

"Har har. As you can see, my office is a bit too small to contain ten people. Honestly, why did Fudge and Scrimgeour want to become Minister if they didn't get a big office? It's like I didn't know them at all," Harry said exasperatedly, gesturing to the cramped space. Hermione grinned.

"Actually, Harry, you didn't. Go on, though."

"Anyways, I was wondering if you could do one of those Undetectable Extension charms, like you did during the War. So that we can all fit." Harry said, and Hermione nodded. She furrowed her brow, flicked her wand, and smiled.

"Give it two minutes, it'll be thrice its size." She said, and indeed the room was beginning to grow. Harry gazed at her, puzzled.

"What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was just wondering how Ron got paired with someone so smart. I mean... Oh, it was probably to make up for his lack. Okay, got it. Thanks, 'Mione." Harry said, and Hermione blushed.

"If you say that again... I'll jinx you. He _is_ my husband. I'll see you, Harry." She said, hurrying out of the room before he could flatter her again. He smiled, then sat back and started chucking paper clips at the memos that were now fluttering around his head.

When the room had developed a good size, and seemed to be done growing, Harry waved his wand, and his office tidied itself. The memos were coralled into a corner, some of them flapping their wings a little weakly due to Harry's attack, and the paperclips leapt back into a Butterbeer bottle on Harry's desk, which was fingerpainted by his children.

He glanced at their photo on his desk, where Ginny knelt, smiling and turning Lily's head towards the camera repeatedly, and James and Albus shoved at each other playfully.

"I'm ready for the Cullens." Harry said, presumably to the picture, and the voice in his ceiling told him they were on their way.

"Harry. They'll need places to sit." A portrait of Albus Dumbledore said from the wall behind Harry, and Harry waved his wand.

"There." He said, as two sofas and four armchairs appeared in the office, arranged comfortably around Harry's desk. He glanced back at the portrait, who smiled warmly at him, as usual. A smaller portrait of Severus Snape leant casually against his frame, staring at Harry.

"Do your fly." He advised, sniggering, as Harry checked, blushing when he noticed it was, in fact, undone. A portrait of the Marauders and Harry's mother roared with laughter from his desk, and Harry flicked a bit of lint at it, glaring.

"Shut up, Sirius, yours is udone, too!" Harry pointed, chuckling when the tiny Sirius glanced downwards.

"Now everyone, shh. They're coming." Harry said, and the portraits fell silent, going back to their usual routines. Harry sat back down in his chair, gathering his robes around him and tucking his mokeskin pouch into them so it would be hidden.

"It's very fascinating." A warm, appraising voice said from behind the door.

"I think they hold even more power over their people than the Volturi do. It's incredible." A soft, velvety voice agreed, and then there was a knock.

"Come in." Harry said, leaning back in his chair and scanning the group as they came in.

Nine people filed into the room, all appearing younger than Harry, all appearing similar in age to each other, though Harry knew this was untrue. They all had pale, white skin, toned bodies, and what Harry assumed were fashionable clothes.

"Welcome." Harry said graciously, standing and offering his hand to the person at the front, who seemed to have some level of authority over the others. He took it, smiling politely.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Mr. Minister. I'm Carlisle Cullen, please call me Carlisle." The man said, dropping Harry's hand and placing his on the small of the next person's back.

"This is my wife, Esme." He said, and she put her own hand in Harry's.

"Wonderful to meet you , Mr. Minister." Esme said, shaking his hand enthusiastically.

"Please," Harry said, "Call me Harry."

"Harry, this is Rosalie, and Emmett," Esme introduced a gorgeous blonde girl and a brawny man, whose arm was draped over the girl's shoulder, "And Alice and Jasper," A petite dark haired girl and a tall, slight man, whose hands were entwined, "And Bella, Edward, and the guest of honor, I suppose, Renesmee," A dark haired beauty, a boy with messy bronze hair, and a girl who certainly looked as though she were their daughter. Harry shook each of their hands in turn, and then gestured for them to sit down. The youngest one, Renesmee, had bronze curls that fell in a waterfall to her waist, and chocolate brown eyes that were puffy and red, as though she had been crying.

"It's so wonderful to meet you all. So... were you planning on living in England, then?" Harry said, getting down to business. Emmett and Rosalie were practically doing the deed on his couch, the latter pressed on top of the former, their arms locked around each other, but their gazes locked on Harry. Edward and Bella lounged on another couch, their hands entwined. Alice and Jasper were sharing an armchair, and Esme and Carlisle were each in their own armchair. Renesmee had chosen the straight backed wooden chair in the corner, which had been conjured earlier for Hermione, and sat curled in on herself, her knees pressed into her chin, even though there was an empty armchair that would put her more in the line of conversation.

"Yes, that was what we were hoping," Carlisle answered, nodding.

"Right. Well, I know you presumably only eat animals, and whatnot, but it's my job to make it clear that if you do bite a human, you will have to leave the country immediately." Harry said, and Rosalie moaned.

"What was the point of coming here if there's another treaty to stick to?" She complained, and Edward reached over and smacked her- it sounded as though two slabs of granite had collided. Harry winced as the sound sent stabs of pain through his skull.

"Shut up, Rose." Jasper advised, and she mumbled into silence.

"Yes, we understand. We're quite used to sticking to such agreements." Carlisle said, and Harry felt reassured.

"Right. Well, then, I'm sure you got your list of school supplies, if you just tell Tom the barman in the Leaky Cauldron that you need to get to Diagon Alley, he'll let you in there. Um... oh, I forgot, is Renesmee uncomfortable with appearing six years older than her classmates?" Harry asked, and Renesmee looked at Edward, her father, meaningfully.

"She's more worried about making the other students uncomfortable," Edward said quietly, and Renesmee nodded.

Harry looked puzzled, and Emmett chuckled.

"He can read... _minds_." Emmett said in an eerie voice, and Rosalie laughed.

"Oh." Harry said, then answered the statement Edward had made for Renesmee, "I think it would be best for all of you if her appearance were altered. That is, we can give her an aging potion that would make her look younger, to be taken every few weeks while she's at school." Harry said, and Edward spoke again.

"That will be fine, as long as it doesn't taste nasty." He said a little flatly.

"Um, she can talk, right?" Harry said, and a rather emotionless laugh tinkled through the room.

"Of course I can," Renesmee said in a hoarse, dry voice, "I just... don't like to," She explained, and her eyes filled with tears as she switched her gaze away from Harry and to the portrait of Dumbledore in the back of the room.

"Um." Harry said, and Bella shot him a glare that distinctly said _drop it_.

"Right. Is that it?" Carlisle said, and Harry nodded.

"It was lovely meeting you. We'll send word about the potion." Harry said, and Carlisle thanked him. The clan of vampires filed out of the room, Bella wrapping her arms around her daughter as the door shut behind them.

"I know how it feels, Ness. You're not alone here." Bella said, her arms around her daughter, whose hands were pressed to her mother's face.

Nessie was showing Bella the pain she felt every day, how she couldn't stand to think.

"I know, Nessie. I've been through it." Bella whispered, and Nessie shook her head, conveying to her mother what she didn't want to speak.

_No you don't. _

_You have no clue. _

"Renesmee, please listen. You are not the only one who has suffered a loss here. You are not the only one who has suffered a loss like this one." Bella said, her words almost drowned out by the whistle of the train they were on.

"You may have lost Jacob, Mama, but you didn't lose him in the same way I did." Renesmee mumbled, dropping her hands to her stomach, which she clutched at as though there were a deep wound there.

"No. I didn't, but I have gone through the same thing as you are right now."

"But you've always had Daddy."

"No. Not always. Before you were born... your father left me, for a little less than a year. I had no reminder of him, no photo, or keepsake. And the last memory I had was him telling me he didn't love me." Bella said, glancing up and watching Edward's face contort with pain.

"Really?" Renesmee muttered, not able to muster the appropriate amount of enthusiasm.

"Really. You're lucky, Renesmee, because Jacob left you pictures, CDs, notes, letters, that voicemail that you won't delete..." Bella pointed out, and Renesmee felt the tears pouring from her eyes again. She fingered the high-tech cell phone that she kept in her pocket. It had no purpose, anymore, because the plan had been canceled, but the one voicemail that Jake had left her right before he died was still on it. She had it memorised.

_Nessie- I just got back to the Rez, but I'm heading back over there as soon as possible. They're coming, Nessie, and there's a good chance not all of us will live. Take care of yourself, sweetie, and stick with your mom and dad until I get there, okay? I love you, so much. I love you, Nessie. Stay safe. _

She would wake up in the middle of the night from a bad dream, sometimes, and listen to it, just to hear his voice. Sometimes she would pretend that he hadn't died, and that his arms were wrapped around her, as they sometimes had been, and that his face was buried in her hair, his hot breath on her neck, trailing kisses down her spine--

The train stopped, and Nessie realised she had been dreaming. Mama was carrying her, and it was dark out. She nestled into her mother's arms, and fell back into a sweet dream, the night before the battle, and everything was okay, and she was asleep in Jake's arms, and he wouldn't die, because she wouldn't let him out of her sight...

**A/N: Okay, since I got nineteen whole reviews, I'm not writing again till we hit twenty five. Is six reviews on one chapter too much to ask? I didn't think so. **

**Reviewers will also be rewarded by a still- alive Jake in a place of their choosing, all to themselves for a night. Oh, wait, you guys think he's stupid. I guess you can have Edward, Harry, or Sirius, because that means I get Snape and Jake all to myself ;)**

**P.S. Sorry about emo Nessie, but she's going to end up handling it a lot better than Bella when Edward left, because I just could not STAND the way that turned out. Nessie has a much more exciting life, anyways, so everything will work out. **


	5. Chapter Four Nightmare on The Train

**A/N: Wow! More than six reviews in less than twenty four hours! You guys are fabulous. **

**In response to a review that called me a Review Whore: I'm sorry if I'm annoying you guys. I'll stop, I promise. I'm also getting the feeling I don't really need to be, any more, so thanks to those of you who stuck with me anyway. **

**And special thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm super surprised by the amount of reviews I **_**am**_** getting, but it's going to take a while to get the next chapter up, I'll have to put a lot of thought into it...**

**Misty D: Your review made me smile. Let me know what you thought of DH when you finish it!**

**Lily: You can have Draco all to yourself. I'm so glad you like it. I will definitely kill someone soon...**

**HeadGirl91: Your review stung a little, but don't worry. I forgave you. I hope you came back and are reading this, and I would truly appreciate any real criticism you have to give me. **

**Britty1024: Thank you for the advice! I will take it to heart, and, after I post this chapter, will edit the previous one immediately. I, too, thought the chapter lacked something, and you helped me figure it out!**

**Amylily123: seeing as this is part crackfic, I may be forced to kill her. I'm sorry about that, but... anyways, the Auror thing. I'm not sure... I go strictly by the books, and it never really says what Harry ends up doing in there, but I'd love to know where you got that information, because I never heard that. **

**CluainnFhada: The voicemail thing was something I had thought about, and I know how that's going to work, but thanks for pointing it out, if there are any other details I miss, I'd love you to say. **

**Turquoise Blue 14: Thanks, as always!**

**This one is dedicated to Britty1024 for delivering helpful criticism, and, as always, Lily bo Billy. Because where would I be without her?**

Chapter Four

"_Nessie. Come on, wake up." _

"_Mmm. I don't wanna."_

"_Hah. I bet. But come on, we gotta go." _

"_Mmmmm. Fine." I opened my eyes, and jumped. _

"_Geez, Jake. A little too close." I mumbled. He leapt to his feet, laughing. His face had been pressed so close to mine that our noses were practically touching. _

"_Come on, we gotta go. Your mom and dad are already down in the field, and they said that the three of the Guard who are coming are gonna be here in an hour. We gotta be down there in like five minutes." Jake said, and I slid into the outfit Aunt Alice had picked out. Cargo shorts, a glittery tank top, and a pink leather jacket. I tied my hair up in a knot at the back of my head, and slid on a pink pair of Doc Martens that matched the jacket. Aunt Alice really knew how NOT to dress appropriately. _

_I straightened back up, and caught Jake staring at the generous amount of cleavage that the tank top showed off. _

"_Mom's right. You're a perv," I teased, zipping up the jacket. Jake grinned. _

"_Can't help it. C'mere." Jake said, pulling me into a bear hug and pressing his lips to mine. His hands twisted into the hair at the base of my neck, and his lips moved slowly and carefully against mine, and my tongue traced his soft, warm bottom lip, tasting his breath, and I bit his bottom lip. He jumped back._

"_Ness! What was that for?!" He asked, rubbing his lip. _

"_We only have," I checked my watch, "Two minutes." _

"_Oh. We should go," Jake said, grinning unashamedly and scooping me up._

"_I'm not Mama. I can run just as fast as you, Jacob." I said, frowning. Jake bent down and pressed his face to my neck, then pressed his lips to it. _

"_I know. But I like this better." Jake said, and I smiled. _

_We ran through the forest, and I was pressed against his hot chest by the frigid wind. _

_Jake and I reached the clearing after everyone else. _

"_Jacob. We need you to go change, then tell us who's helping. Alice thinks there could be more coming, but they're playing with her visions." Daddy said, and Jake let me down. _

"_Take care, Nessie. Stay with Bella and Edward." Jake said, then let me down and kissed me on the forehead before racing into the trees. _

"_It'll be okay, Ness." Mom said, taking my hand and squeezing it. Daddy placed an arm on my shoulder, and another around Mom's waist. _

"_Mmm." I mumbled. There was a howl from the forest. _

"_Jake." I murmured, at the same time that Daddy broke away from us._

"_No. Shit, shit, shit, no. Oh, fuck, Oh, God." He said under his breath._

_Another howl, but different from what I had ever heard from Jake before. _

"_What is it, Daddy?" I asked, and the fear was poorly disguised in my voice. _

"_Edward... Edward, I can't see the Volturi any more." Aunt Alice said, her voice just as terrified as mine. _

"_Jake." Mom and I said at the same time, and I took off. My heart seemed to stop working, and cold fear seeped slowly through every vital organ in my body. _

"_RENESMEE! NO!" Daddy roared, sprinting after me. Daddy was fast, but it was a trait I had inherited, and I had a head start. _

_Still, I slowed down when I realised I had no clue where to go. Another earsplitting howl broke through the forest, just south of me. I made a sharp right and went closer to the sound. _

_Daddy had caught up to me, but he was still just far enough behind me so that he couldn't reach me. I sped up. _

_I could smell Jacob now. _

_I could hear... whimpers. I could hear pain. _

_And my name. _

_Over. And over again. _

"_Renesmee." Daddy said, interrupting a train of thought that scared me. I hadn't realised I had stopped until he wrapped his arms loosely around me._

_There was vicious laughter from in front of us. _

"_C'mere, Renesmee, little baby, come and _save_ your precious _Jakey_." Said the voice of Jane, and comprehension shot thruogh me. _

"_NO!" I screamed, and Daddy, who was unprepared for it, let his arms drop as I broke free and raced forward. _

_I stopped in the middle of a large clump of pine trees. _

_Three vampires were standing in the shadows of the trees, mirthless laughter emanating from the spots where they stood. _

_But their faces didn't register with me. All I could see was the carcass in the center of the clump of trees. _

_It was the body of a large, russett brown wolf, slumped in the middle of the space, unmoving. _

"_JAKE! NO!" I screamed, and Daddy's iron grip closed around me again. I collapsed against it, sobbing, tears flowing freely down my face, I felt the pain rip through me, dragging every part of me to a place somewhere near my navel and hardening like a rock, like freezing cold fear, solidified. _

_Jane stepped out from a clump of trees, an evil look on her face. _

"_We've been waiting for you, Renesmee."_

_She lowered into a crouch, and flew at me. _

_I screamed._

Renesmee woke with a start. Freezing rain was pounding against the window of the train car, and she was curled up in a corner seat, her face pressed against the glass.

She was halfway to Hogwarts, sitting alone in a carriage on the flaming red train that was now rocketing through a landscape of Scottish lochs and hills, which Renesmee could not see due to the shroud of fog and rain that pressed against the train.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, wrapping her sweater sleeves over her hands and dabbing at her eyes, drying the tears that had been brought on by the nightmare. She glanced up at the glass, and was surprised to see the reflection of a much younger her staring back at her.

"Right. Age potion." She mumbled, and there was a knock on the door. She stood and slid the door open, hugging her middle and looking at the person before her without expression on her face.

"Hey. I'm James. I was sitting with my cousin, but then a bunch of her friends came in, and I decided to leave, because they were taking so much space. Mind if I sit here?" The boy said, sticking out a hand. Renesmee took it, and did her best to smile.

"Not at all. Um, do you think we're close?" She asked him, glancing at his robes.

"I dunno. Why?"

"Well, you already put on your uniform. Do you think I should..." Renesmee asked, and James laughed.

"Nah. My Mum wanted me to wear this to the station so she could get pictures," James rolled his eyes, "You shouldn't need to change for a while."

"Hmm." Renesmee said, and sat back down. Her cell phone fell out of her sweatshirt pocket, and she picked it up and toyed with it absently in her lap.

"Whoa, is that... a Muggle thing? Are you Muggleborn?" James said, pointing to the phone. Nessie glanced up at him.

"Er-- yeah. Um, I'm sort of Muggleborn... I mean, my parents can't do this kind of magic, but, they're not exactly your average humans," Renesmee explained, smiling a little as she thought of her parents.

"How?" James asked, curious.

"Well, they're vampires." Nessie answered, and James jumped.

"_Vampires? _But, then... how are you their daughter?" He asked, "I don't know much about vampires, but I was under the impression that they couldn't exactly reproduce, or whatever."

Renesmee laughed.

"Well, before my Daddy turned my Mom into a vampire, they had me. So, I'm half vampire, half human." Renesmee answered, and smiled genuinely at the expression on James's face.

"Half vampire? So... do you like, suck blood, and stuff?" He asked, looking excited. Renesmee laughed.

"Well, normally I just have blood from animals, but I could eat a human, if I wanted to. My family doesn't believe that's right, though, so we stick to animals. And, since I'm part human, I can live off of human food, which is what my Dad thinks I should do at Hogwarts, but I hear there's a forest, and I do prefer blood..." Renesmee explained, grinning.

"Whoa. That's awesome. Do you have a name?" James asked, studying the girl. She was really pretty, he noticed, with an odd, but not unattractive, color to her waist length curls, and sparkly brown eyes. She seemed pale, though. Fragile. As though she would flinch at the slightest touch. She clutched her arms around her middle, and her posture was stiff, uncomfortable.

"No," Nessie replied, "They just call me Girl at home." She said, and James took her seriously for a moment.

"Oh, you're joking. What's your name?" He said, and she laughed, though he noticed it was a little unenthusiastic.

"Renesmee." She replied, grinning.

"Weird name."

"I know. It's my crazy mom. Do you wanna know my middle name?"

"Sure."

"Carlie. But spelled weird. C-A-R-L-I-E. There's a whole story behind it, but we don't need to get into that." Renesmee said, rolling her eyes. James sniggered.

"My name's a little different, too. I'm James Sirius Potter. I was named for my Dad's Dad and his best friend. What about you?"

"My name comes from all four of my grandparents. My grandmas are Renee and Esme, Renesmee, and my grandpas are Carlisle and Charlie, Carlie. My mom's crazy." Renesmee reiterated, rolling her eyes again.

"You think that's crazy? You should hear my brother's name. Albus Severus Potter. How weird is that? My Dad is insane. I'm just glad I was born first, I didn't have to get stuck with that." James said, and Renesmee pondered Albus Severus's name.

"You know, James, I still think mine is worse." She said, and James agreed with a chuckle.

"So... Renesmee. That's a bit of a mouthful. You know, if we're gonna be friends, I'll need a nickname for ya. Hmm... how do you like..." James said, and Renesmee's heart stopped. If he said Nessie, she wasn't going to be able to contain the tears that were already threatening to flow.

"Ren?" James asked, and relief washed over Renesmee.

"Ren is perfect." She said, closing her eyes and tilting her head back for a moment in relief.

"Cool. So it's your first year?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Me too. I hope I get Gryffindor, what about you?" He asked, and Renesmee bit her lip.

"You know, I don't really know that much about the houses. I just hope I get friends, wherever I end up." She confided, and he nodded.

"Well, you definitely don't want Slytherin, it's filled with jerks. Only one decent person that I know of has ever come out of there, he was my brother's namesake. Severus Snape. And, he's dead. I don't know what's decent about him, all my Dad said was that he's brave and a bunch of stuff like that. Hufflepuff would be okay, but, as far as I know, it's just kinda filled with all the oddballs and people who didn't really fit in with the other houses. My cousin Victoire is in there, though, and she's alright. She reckons she shoulda been in Ravenclaw, though, that's where all the brainiacs end up. I dunno if it would really be the best place for Victoire... anyways, the last, and best, is Gryffindor. That one's got brave, nice, loyal people in it. That's where my Dad and Mum and pretty much all of my Uncles and Aunts ended up." James explained, and Renesmee felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"I definitely won't be in Gryffindor, then, I'm not brave at all." She confessed, and James shook his head.

"Well, you never know. My Dad's friend Neville thought for sure he'd be a Hufflepuff, but he's head of Gryffindor House now. My Dad says that he proved himself plenty brave time and time again while they were at school. He's the Herbology teacher, now. Professor Longbottom. He's great. Then there's Hagrid, he's the gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, but he's also Deputy Headmaster. Professor McGonnagal is Headmistress, Dad reckons she's really cool, she was Deputy while he was at school. Then there's the Potions professor, Professor Bulstrode, she's Head of Slytherin, she's supposed to be rather nasty. Defense Against the Dark Arts is supposed to be fantastic, Professor Thomas, he was a friend of my Dad's, and Transfiguration is taught by McGonnagal herself, she didn't really want to give up her teaching post, she really likes it, apparently, and then there's a whole bunch of other classes that we can't take until Third Year, but they sound fabulous." James listed to Renesmee, who was barely listening.

"Ren, are you alright?" James asked, and she blinked.

"Mmhmm." She hummed, her voice incredibly high pitched. She had let her thoughts wander to Jake again, and was holding back tears. Apparently, she was doing a very bad job, because James flew to her side.

"Ren, you're crying. Are you really that nervous?" He asked, laughing a little as though it were a joke.

"I-I'm sorry. It's just... a friend of the family died recently... and... I guess I'm just really upset, still." She said, and sniffed, wiping her nose.

"It's okay, Ren. Do you really think that your friend would want you worrying about something you can't change, when you're about to make such a huge change in your life?" James asked, and Renesmee pursed her lips. He was making an excellent point.

"I know, it's just... I can't help it. I miss him so much." She whispered, and James put an arm around her, not the least bit hesitant.

"And that's okay. But you have to move on, right?" Renesmee was shocked at how wise James was being. He had no clue what the situation was really like, and yet he was making the same speech to her as Mama and Daddy had been making since the day Jake had died.

"Hmm." She mumbled in agreement, chewing on the inside of her mouth thoughtfully.

"I think we're gonna be there soon." James said, pressing his nose against the glass of the window, "You should probably change. Do you want me to step out?" Renesmee nodded, and James ran out of the compartment, shouting, "OI! Fred! C'mere!" After a tall redhead down the hall.

Renesmee changed into a dressy pair of jeans and a T-shirt and sweater set that Aunt Alice had packed for her, stuffing her grubby old pair of jeans and baggy hoodie in the trunk in its place. She tugged on the thick black fabric that she recognised as her school robes, and yanked them out of the trunk, sliding them on over the baby blue angora sweater and dark black jeans. She slid into a pair of gold ballet flats that were hidden by the dark, floor length robes instantly. She dug her wand out of the bottom of the trunk, and rolled it over in her fingers, recalling the trip to Diagon Alley they had taken to get her her school things.

**Flashback to follow! I already have it in the works, I'll post it as soon as I finish it! Also, go re-read chapter 3, I made some changes due to britty1024's observation that the Cullens were not quite as curious about the wizarding world as they maybe should have been. **

**Thanks again for reading, reviewers get a little wise James in a train compartment all to themselves for an afternoon. If that seemes a little inappropriate for you, I will feed him an aging potion before hand so that he is the same age as you. Any takers? **

**Oh, good. I'm going to have to Polyjuice some more Jameses. ;)**

**Thank you sooo much for reading!**

**Review!**

**Em Em Em**


	6. Chapter Five What Were You Thinking?

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I was in Indiana with some friends, and didn't have much time to write or post. I'm posting now, though, so take a deep breath and bear with me.

I still haven't reposted chapter... three? I think? But be on the lookout for that, it's coming up soon. I'm also going to go back into the last chapter posted and change the teachers, because some of them were kind of dumb... Review replies at the end! I promise!

Love and hugs to anyone who reviews, and please stick around for a few more chapters of emo Ren... she really will cheer up soon, I promise!

Flashback-- Diagon Alley

Aunt Alice, as was expected, was the most enthusiastic about the shopping trip to Diagon Alley, and so she was the one who took Renesmee that day. Carlisle had given them a large roll of English money, which they were to exchange for Wizarding money and deposit in an account for Renesmee.

Alice bounced through the single long street that made up Diagon Alley, and led Renesmee to the bank, Gringotts.

They made their way up the marble steps, and into the bank.

It took nearly an hour to get everything set up, and Renesmee was still unsure whether she understood the way this money worked. She had a bag with her that a goblin had dumped all her money in, and it made it very heavy. She kept her hand tucked in her jacket pocket, clutching to her lifeline- the cell phone that still had Jacob's voice on it.

Knowing that he was that close to her, knowing that she still had some part of him tucked close to her, made it all easier.

Aunt Alice, per Minister Potter's instruction, took Renesmee to a wandshop called Ollivander's first.

It was a tiny, dusty place, lined with shelves. Large, turnip-shaped glass orbs hung in bunches from the ceilings, throwing colorful patterns on the floor of the otherwise dark shop. A light, airy voice drifted towards them from the back of the room.

"You must be Renesmee Cullen. And I don't know who you are. Do you like the ornaments? They're modeled after my late father's favorite vegetable. I've been trying to sell a few for Christmas trees, but I haven't had much luck." A slim, tall, blonde woman said, drifting towards them, as though floating on air. She may as well have been, in her robes of silvery blue, which matched her slightly crossed eyes.

"I'm Alice. Nessie's aunt." Alice said politely, smiling and holding out her hand. The blonde woman didn't take it, but her eyes grew wide.

"I'm sorry! You're a vampire, aren't you? I have a garlic lasagne cooking in the back, I can throw it out, if you want..." The woman said, still looking as though she were amused.

"No, it's not true that we don't like garlic. Just another legend. Like wizards being evil. I think we know now that that's not true." Alice replied, laughing her tinkling laugh and sticking her hand back in the pocket of her designer jeans.

"I'm Luna Thomas. You can call me Luna. You need a wand?" The blonde woman asked politely, and Alice nodded.

"Renesmee does," Alice replied, pushing her neice forward. Renesmee smiled feebly at Luna.

"You're rather..." Luna screwed up her face, searching for a proper word, as she waved her wand at a tape measurer, which started to measure and poke at Renesmee, prodding her into holding out her legs, arms, etc, "Tall," Luna decided, jotting down the measurements from the tape measurer and looking pleased with herself for arriving at this conclusion, "To be starting at Hogwarts."

"Well... I, um, age a lot faster than most people," Renesmee said uneasily. What if she forgot her age potion at school? What was she supposed to tell people? That she had a growth spurt? Yeah, right.

"That's probably not too enjoyable." Luna commented serenely, holding up two wands next to Renesmee's face and shaking her head, throwing them aside.

"Hm." Renesmee sighed. At least it meant she had gotten to be... closer... to Jacob before he died. Other than that, it was turning out that there was nothing else good about it.

Luna started poking Renesmee with various wands, discarding each one with a frown.

Renesmee gave Alice a look, and the elder shrugged.

When the pile of discarded wands had grown quite large, Luna stomped her foot in distaste.

"Honestly! Who are you, Harry Potter?" She spat at Renesmee, crossing her arms.

"Erm-- what?" Renesmee said nervously. Luna laughed, her expression turning calm again in a heartbeat.

"Just an expression. Try this one." Luna said, handing Renesmee a wand, and smiling before the girl had even touched it. When she did touch it, silver sparks shot out the end, enveloping the shop in a soft glow.

"Fascinating." Luna said, bouncing up and down on her heels.

"What?" Alice demanded.

"That," Luna said eerily, "Is a wand intended for Dark Magic."

"Dark Magic?" Renesmee repeated in a frightened voice.

"Hmm. Judging by your reaction, though, that's not what you're going to be using it for. Not why it chose you." Luna said wisely, chewing on a hangnail on her thumb.

"So... what will I be using it for? Why did it choose me?" Renesmee asked, toying with the black stick of wood. It felt warm in her hands, as though it had been waiting for her.

"Because it knows that by choosing someone so good, it will never be a threat to anyone." Luna said wisely, then grinned wickedly, "That'll be sixteen Galleons."

They left the shop a while later, after Alice pounded Luna for information about the wand, which was yew, burned black by a Hungarian Horntail- a particularly vicious kind of dragon. The core was the bone marrow of a thestral.

It was beautiful, with a smooth, round handle that seemed form fitted to her hand, and tiny runes carved into the sides of it. Luna told her she had made the wand herself, but that she had no idea what the runes meant. She had found them in an old book, but had never taken Arithmancy, which meant she couldn't read them.

They meandered down the diagonal running street, checking 'wand' off of Renesmee's school supply list.

It was then that Alice noticed, presumably for the first time, that Renesmee required a uniform. Her reaction was a little mixed, as Renesmee led them into a shop called "Madam Malkin's". A slightly pudgy woman with heavily done makeup and hair that was clearly dyed was fitting a pair of ice blue dress robes to a similarly made up and dyed woman, who was gossiping at a frightening rate.

"Just wait there, 'kay?" The first woman said, pins tumbling from her mouth and clinking to the ground. She waved her wand lazily, and they flew into a pincushion. She then fastened two more pins to the robes on the other woman, who was now studying Renesmee and Alice with rapt attention. The first woman waved her wand again, and the pins flew out of the dress robes and into a pincushion, but the robes maintained their modified shape. Renesmee raised her eyebrows.

That was cool.

"Hmm. They're nice." The woman in the newly sized blue robes said, still staring at Nessie and Alice. She stepped down from the platform she had been standing on and picked up her wand from the counter in the shop. She waved it vaguely at her robes, which changed to a flourescent pink low cut set of less dressy robes.

"Well, Lav, I'll buy you dinner Friday, 'kay? See you tomorrow, thanks for the robes. I think they'll knock Pansy Parkinson right out of that party," She said to the shopkeeper, who mumbled assent, and then tossed a piece of paper at the woman who had spoken.

"Dinner isn't going to cover it, this time, you'll have to at least pay a little." The shopkeeper said in a half-joking voice, and the other humphed, then whirled out of the shop as the shopkeeper chuckled.

"Hey, hon. Hogwarts? You're a bit old." She said, raising an eyebrow, and Alice smacked herself on the forehead.

"I am so dumb! I should have seen this, I wasn't paying attention!" She hissed at Renesmee, "The Minister is sending Carlisle your potion tonight... should we come back tomorrow?" Alice said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Sure. If we have extra time we can go back out to London and get regular clothes," Renesmee suggested, and Alice's face lit up.

"That's a great idea!" She said, and Renesmee smiled a little, happy that Alice was happy.

"Sorry, Ms... um..." Renesmee addressed the shopkeeper, then peered down at the toes of the low midnight blue heels Aunt Alice had picked for her that day, blushing.

"Brown. Go on," The over-madeup shopkeeper said encouragingly, smiling.

"Sorry, Ms. Brown, but we're going to come back tomorrow. Will you be open then?" Renesmee said politely, batting her eyelashes. Lavender Brown smiled at her, and nodded.

"Yes, we are. I'll see you then?" Lavender suggested, and Renesmee and Alice nodded before exiting the shop.

They proceeded to buy potions ingredients, a cauldron, quills, parchment, a bookbag, and a trunk. They were on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron when Renesmee paused before Eeylop's Owl Emporium, and her eyes widened. Renesmee loved raptors- and not to eat. She was totally obsessed with them.

"Aunt Alice," She said, sounding truly excited for one of the first times in months, "Can we go in?" Renesmee had no idea why there was an entire shop devoted to one of her favorite animals, all she knew was that she _had_ to go in.

"I don't see why not. The Leaky Cauldron is right up the street, though, why don't I drop your things off so I don't have to bring them with, and I'll meet you back here?" Alice suggested, she already saw herself buying Nessie a bird, though she couldn't really see what kind, as Nessie was so involved.

"Okay!" Nessie agreed, already halfway in the shop.

Her jaw dropped, as soon as the door swung shut. The magically enlarged shop was incredible- rows and rows of open cages and perches containing thousands of birds. It was like nothing Renesmee had ever seen before. Tears sprung to her eyes as she thought of how much Jake would have loved it.

She smoothed down her shirt as she spotted the pretty saleswoman walking towards her, a spring in her step.

"Hello! How can I help you today?" The saleswoman asked, smiling at Renesmee.

"Um... I dunno. I just love birds, so I came in..." Renesmee said, and the saleswoman looked a little confused.

"Do you need an owl?" She asked.

"What would I need an owl for...?" Renesmee wondered aloud, and the saleswoman's confused expression deepened.

"To send letters! You're a witch, aren't you?"

"Well, I'm just now starting at Hogwarts, and my parents aren't wizards, so, um, I didn't know... you communicate with owls?" Renesmee looked excited again, and the saleswoman scrutinized her.

"You're just now starting at Hogwarts? You look like you'd be done by now." She pointed out, and Renesmee sighed.

"I'm eleven. It's... complicated." She clarified, again wondering what she was going to tell people at school. She would have an age potion then, but still. She knew she didn't _talk_ like an eleven year old, and she was sure as hell a lot smarter than a lot of them. And what if the age potion didn't work? Or she forgot to take it? Or something went wrong?

"Alright. Well... yes, we do communicate by owl. But, since just before I started working here, you know, training the owls and things, Mr. Eeylop started training... other... birds of prey, as well. He even tried a few songbirds- and a woodpecker. But those can't fly as far. Still useful, though. Some people keep them around to deliver notes in the neighborhood, you know, local things. We have a rather nice selection of falcons... but those are a bit more expensive, rather moody," The salesperson explained, and Renesmee brightened a little.

"Could I see those?" She requested politely, and the salesperson nodded, leading her to a long row of rather vicious looking birds.

"They're expensive, like I said, but very loyal, very fast. I have a bald eagle at home. Plus, if you ask me, they look a little cooler," The shopkeeper explained, and there were several offended hoots from nearby.

"You can have a look around," She said to Renesmee, who was already absorbed in the description of a type of hawk, "I've got to go finish some things round back. Holler if you need anything."

Renesmee read the description of each bird carefully, marveling at how well trained they all seemed. She didn't even notice when Alice started to follow her.

The shop had an incredible selection- every bird of prey imaginable. Falcons, eagles, hawks... the list went on. Renesmee spotted various types of owls that she liked, too, and noticed the songbirds the shopkeeper had been talking about.

"You've been in here a while," Alice commented a few moments after she had begun to follow Renesmee, making her jump.

"How long?"

"About forty five minutes. I stepped out a moment to talk to Carlisle. Guess what?" Alice gushed, and Renesmee shrugged, stroking the bird before her deliberately.

"We're going to be living in a house just outside the village near your school! Won't be moving in until next summer, though, Esme has to restore it first. Until then we're in Carlisle's place in London- sort of inconvenient for hunting. Whatever, London has pretty good shopping, and trains to Paris..." Alice said dreamily, gazing at a nearby eagle, though Renesmee knew she wasn't really looking at the eagle.

"That's nice. Do you remember that trip we took to Paris two years ago? And that great dress we got for Mom? And she hasn't even touched it?" Renesmee said, still studying the birds in front of her.

"Your Mom... she gives me a headache. Anyways... these are used for mail?" Alice said gazing thoughtfully at a barn owl.

"Yeah... the shopkeeper said that the owls are more common, but these are faster. They sure do look cooler." Renesmee said, and there was an indignant hoot from the owl Alice had been studying.

"I think they're all cool," Alice allowed the owl, who hooted appreciatively.

"I like this one a lot... do you think Daddy would have a cow if I got one? They're for communicating with you guys, and I do have my birthday money from Charlie..." Renesmee pondered, gazing at a gold cage containing, according to the sign, a Peregrine Falcon.

"I think he'd have two cows. But you should do it anyways. I think we have just enough money left over to count it as one of your school supplies," Alice suggested, her attention now turned to a snowy owl.

"You're the best, Aunt Alice!" Renesmee said enthusiastically, throwing her arms around the slightly shorter woman.

"You know... this would be a rather good way of communicating on hunting trips. They don't require reception, they can fly there themselves..." Alice mused, gazing longingly at a snowy owl, "And they're so pretty... I think I just talked myself into buying her." Alice said, lifting the cage containing the owl effortlessly. Renesmee did the same with the falcon, her heart leaping excitedly.

Alice paid for the birds, and they exited the shop happily, their arms laden with the large cages, which they each carried without difficulty. They exited through the Leaky Cauldron, back into Muggle London, and onto the subway, trunk and cages in tow. They arrived back at the house Carlisle owned just near dinnertime, which Edward had made for Renesmee that night- they were getting her reaccustomed to Human food before she went to Hogwarts. This particular dish was one of Nessie's favorites- stuffed green peppers with mac 'n cheese- the box kind. She was weird enough that she liked the box kind a lot. Alice, with the help of Jasper, calmed Edward down when he saw the owl and the falcon, pointing out the benefits of the birds. He wasn't too angry, though. He had a soft spot for Nessie, though the first words out his mouth, spoken to Alice, were "What were you thinking?!" In a low hiss. As though he had to ask.

The next day, Alice woke Renesmee up early, right when the age potion arrived. They bought her high-end robes and consulted the shopkeeper on what people wore underneath their robes, usually. They spent the next three days in Paris, purchasing skirts, jeans, and tops to wear beneath her robes, and some sweaters and jackets, as the shopkeeper had said it would be cold most of the year there.

Renesmee slept easily for the first time since Jake died the night before she left for Hogwarts, with one hand near her falcon, Ariana's perch. Ariana was a name she had found from a wizarding history book that she hadn't really been paying attention to. She would reread it on the train, if she had the time.

-------

"A vampire? At Hogwarts?" The tall, pale man said, a little amused.

"Yes, Master. Her family is said to have much power in their world- one of the largest of their kind. And with _them_ so close..." A second man said excitedly, stroking his wand.

"Yes. Yes, I believe... it is time... for a new Lord. It is time... for me... to rule..." The first man said hungrily, his eyes locked on a spot on the wall opposite him. He raised his own wand, and, without words having been spoken, a spider dropped to the floor.

"It is _time..._" He murmured, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

-------

Harry Potter woke up with a start, sweat beading on his forehead. He let out a low moan, glancing at the clock on his bedside table. Two AM.

"Mmmm.... Harry?" Ginny mumbled, rolling over, her arm coming to rest on the circular scar on his bare chest, just over his heart.

"Go back to sleep, Gin. It was just a nightmare." Harry said, snuggling up to his wife and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Harry... you can never go back to sleep after those if you don't talk." Ginny protested, rubbing soothing circles on her husband's chest, and he obliged with a sigh.

"It was like the ones I used to have with Voldemort... yo u know, when he let go of his grip, and I saw something that made him real angry, or something significant... I just don't see why it's happening again, if he's really dead..." Harry said, and Ginny hummed tiredly, acknowledging him sleepily.

"Let's go back to sleep. Big day tomorrow," Harry suggested, a little late, for she had already dozed back off. Harry chuckled a little half-heartedly.

"Weasleys," He murmured, before settling in to drift back off uneasily. He wasn't supposed to have this connection with any other wizard, and Voldemort was dead. So, if, as he suspected, this was more than just a dream, whose mind was he seeing into now?

A/N: Oooh. Look, I found plot! Okay, I promised personal review replies, but I've decided that I'm going to dedicate a whole chapter to those next Tuesday- I'm not checking my reviews until then.

Wondering why? That's the day I start the dreaded six letter word... school. Ugh. So I'll need something major to cheer me up. Wana help? Oh, good. Not only will you get a lengthy reply, but it encourages speedier updating! And we ALL love that!

Lily, I miss you.

Loves and Hugs,  
Em 3


	7. Chapter Six Of Spills and Sorts

(Written to 'you took the words right out of my mouth(hot summer night)' by Meat Loaf)

"Firs' years! Firs' years, over here!" A booming voice echoed over the platform, and Renesmee searched the crowd of eleven year olds in long black robes for the mop of shaggy red hair she knew would be James. Should red hair be this hard to find in a crowd of blondes and brunettes? Renesmee began to panic. James had explained to her that they went into school on boats that sat about four, and Renesmee desperately wanted to know at least one person on her boat.

"Firs' years! Is that all of yeh? I swear, there's more and more every yer. It's those damn- pardon me, danged Weasleys that do it," A huge man with a scruffy gray beard and hair that still had remnants of black in it said, the little skin of his face that was visible turning pink.

"Righ' then, follow me." He said, raising his voice a little, and, as Renesmee was buoyed towards the waiting boats, she was shoved to the ground- hard. Tears stung the back of her eyes, echoing the sting in the palms of her hands from the fall on the cobblestones. Hands grasped her and helped her to her feet, and she looked into James's emerald green eyes.

"Sorry! I was only trying to get your attention, it's all these people, pushing, and all." James said frantically, dusting off Ren's robes for her.

"S'okay! It just hurt, that's all." Ren assured him, wiping at her eyes.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I just wanted to see if you wanted to be on my boat?" James asked, glancing to his sides for no apparent reason. Ren noticed the tips of his ears taking on a bit more color in the dim light.

"Of course! I was actually looking for you before you shoved me over," Ren said, trying to calm the poor boy's nerves. Geez, he was only eleven. How did he already like her like that? Maybe he didn't realize it. Ren had spent a few years around pre- and post- pubescent boys, so she knew that they often didn't know why they were saying something, nor why they laughed at something that wasn't particularly funny or leaned a bit closer to a girl who wasn't specifically qualified as 'hot'.

"Really?" James asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah! You're the only one I really know, so... I'd rather sit with you than someone else," Renesmee confessed, and James grinned broadly as he plopped down next to her in a boat, splashing water all over her. He didn't even notice. Renesmee wasn't surprised, though. She had been so caught up in pondering James that she hadn't noticed she had gotten on the boat.

(Written to 'the market' by the hush sound.)

Renesmee and James talked about classes further on the boat- James promised he would show her around- he had memorized an old map his father had given him, and he spent a lot of time there anyways thanks to his 'Uncle' Neville. Whenever he said 'Uncle' Nevile, he hooked his fingers in the air to symbolize quotations.

"Why is it so special that your Dad gave you the map?" Ren asked him, and James grinned.

"My Dad gave me a lot of stuff that looks like it wouldn't really be valuable- and I don't have to worry about sharing with my brother for another three years. I have this old manky cloak of his... but wait until you see what it does! It's worth a lot more to me than it would be to anyone else. Same with the map. It looks like it would be just a blank piece of parchment- but wait until you see it." James informed her, grinning. The boats began to turn, and Ren looked up.

She gasped.

The castle, seemingly suspended in midair from their angle, was charcoal against a pitch black night- the darkness disturbed only by the glittering stars in the sky, and the star-like windows of the castle, every light a blaze to welcome the first years. The image was repeated in the rippling surface of the water- solid black, interrupted by pinpricks of silver, and small squares of yellow candlelight, and, as they glided across the glass-like surface, the white glow of their lanterns, bobbing along happily above the boats. James sighed.

"It's so cool." He said, leaning back and gazing up. Renesmee watched him silently, and, unable to stop herself, wished it was Jacob in his place. Jake would have loved this- all of it. To know that he wasn't the only magic in the world. That had always bothered him.

(Written to 'My girl' by The Temptations)

They went under a giant stone archway that seemed to lead to the underneath part of the castle, and the boats stopped at the edge of the water. Ren stepped out of the boat, and James stood to join her on the stone platform, but started to lose his balance, and he flailed his arms wildly as he fell backward- into the water. The splash echoed around the cavern, and Hagrid groaned loudly. James was splashing fiercely, trying to figure out where the edge was.

"OI! JAMES! OVER 'ERE!" Hagrid yelled, and James sighed with relief, then swam with great agility towards the edge of the lake, hopping easily onto the platform. He followed the rest of the first years into the Entrance Hall, dripping all over the stones that led the way.

"Can you believe that?" James asked Renesmee, peering at her from under his sopping wet hair.

"I was really proud of you," Renesmee assured him, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Um, why?"

"You know, James, there's this thing called sarcasm..." Renesmee informed her friend, rolling her eyes.

"Oh. Well, now I look like an idiot twice over." James said, looking sadly at his sloshy shoes.

"Because you didn't to begin with?" Ren asked, feigning confusion.

"Thanks, Ren." James said darkly, and Ren laughed.

"Aw, James, I didn't mean it! I'd hug you, but, uh..." she gestured to the clothes that hung in soaked strips from his limbs.

"Ah, it's okay." James said, and Ren nodded happily.

(Written to 'another girl' by the Beatles)

Hagrid had just explained the sorting process, and the first years were waiting in the hallway when a crowd of fourth year girls started coming through. One of them stopped when she saw James.

"James! Why did you leave the compartment?" Victoire asked, frowning, "And why are you wet?"

"Fell in the lake. Could you..."

"Duh."

Victoire quickly performed the drying charm, and James thanked her.

"So, why'd you ditch me?" She asked, and James grinned.

"Vic, have you met your friends? They could be heard over a stampede of elephants." James pointed out, and Victoire laughed.

"So who'd you find?" She asked, glancing meaningfully at Ren.

"This is Renesmee- I call her Ren. She was sitting all by her lonesome. She's a--" Renesmee kicked him, "American," He said, coughing a little to hide his mistake. He understood why she didn't want people to know her parents were vampires. He wasn't too chuffed about people figuring out his Dad was Harry effing Potter- the Minister of Magic. Everyone expected James to be a big politician.

"Hm... She seems nice, but I'm still your top girl, right?" Vic asked, pouting attractively. James nodded, smiling, as Vic turned, apologizing and excusing herself. The Sorting would start soon.

"She's in Hufflepuff. She was my closest friend growing up. With so many cousins, you'd think I had some closer to my own age, but..." James shrugged.

"I thought you mentioned something about two French cousins...?" Renesmee asked, and James sighed.

"Oh, yeah... Vic's younger sister, Lucille, she's a year younger than me... well, Lucy hasn't shown any magic yet, and that happens sometimes, but there's a good chance she's a squib. That's someone with magical parents who isn't magical... she's always been a bit of an oddball." James explained, and Ren nodded. Then, Professor McGonnagal came out and introduced herself, then led the students to the Great Hall.

(Written to 'The gods love nubia' by Elton John, from the musical Aida, and 'Behind these hazel eyes' by Kelly Clarkson)

Ren watched as Adams, Rachel; Bones, Leah; Black, Michael; and Creevey, Sarah were sorted, then took her turn, her hands shaking a little.

_Ah, Cullen. Yes, I heard about you. It is clear that you are gifted. You come from greatness, it is clear. Hm, where to put you. I see anger- jealousy. Slytherin would fit you. You act strongly. You fight. Oh, dear, you are brave, aren't you? That's a Gryffindor quality. You're loyal, and believe in fairness. There's Hufflepuff. And it's clear that you're intelligent. You have a passion for knowledge, so there's Ravenclaw. I could put you anywhere. Do you have a preference?_

"Gryffindor," Ren answered instinctively- James had drilled it into her that that was where he was headed if he had a say.

_May I ask why?_

"James'll be there... he's a Potter," Ren explained in a whisper, and the Sorting hat almost chuckled.

_You already have a friend. Yes, your loyalty and bravery certainly qualify you for that house... alright then, _

"_GRYFFINDOR!_" The hat shouted, and Ren leapt up, placing the hat back on the stool and sitting at the first empty seat, relieved it was over. The Hat had replayed things that she preferred not to think about when it was digging for bravery. Was half a year too long to grieve? Ren wondered because she had not yet stopped crying herself to sleep because of Jake's absence. She was lost without him- still.

A/N: Short, I know, but school just started and it keeps getting in the way. I was lacking homework tonight, so I figured I'd treat you. I let you know what songs I was listening to because I noticed they were influencing a lot of what was happening. I always love seeing stuff like that.

I also wanted to mention... inconsistency is my pet peeve, and I'm sad to say that there will be a lot to come. If I mentioned the age difference between James and Albus before, I changed it because I need it to be longer. Also, everyone expects James to be like Sirius in many ways... mischevious, mean, jerky. But I prefer for him to be sweeter, to have a nicer side. I know that he teased the hell out of his brother in the DH epilogue, but I figured that was just a sibling thing. I tease my sister like hell, but I'm not normally mean and vicious. And I made Albus less innocent than he seems in the epilogue. Same thing- I'm basing it off of my relationship with my sister. She is so un-innocent it hurts, but our parents don't know that, because she's such a great pretender. Sorry to bore you with my life story, I'm just sharing my thoughts on this story with you.

I don't feel like reposting, so, just so you know, Millicent Bulstrode will no longer be the Potions professor. She's a dumb arse, so why would she be a professor? I think I'm going to make up a character named "Professor King", who is similar to Snape in many ways, and who is also the Head of Slytherin. Think about it. The name is an inside joke to REAL Potter fans. Thoughts?

I think that's it, but if I remember something else, I will put it in my next A/N.

Love and Hugs,

Em


	8. Chapter Seven Those Damn Brits

**A/N: Wow. I'm posting fast. Don't get used to it, those last two just happened to be sitting in my computer begging for me to post them. And I had a burning desire to write Renesmee. I also want it to be known that everything I post is guaranteed to be crappy, because I write it on the spot and post without editing. That's the fun of a site like this. Second A/N to follow. **

Renesmee followed the prefects through the hallways, gazing longingly at the animated conversation James was having with his cousins, Fred, Fred's twin, Kendra, and their friend, Margaret. She had lost James in the sea of people exiting the Great Hall, and hadn't felt like intruding. They looked like they were having a lot of fun, and she was feeling a little down. She fingered the cell phone in her pocket, knowing that Jake's voice would cheer her up. She was surprised that the smooth red surface of the phone was hot to touch- that was weird.

They reached a portrait of a very fat woman, and Ren was confused. Why had they stopped? She tapped her toes at a quick, impatient rate.

"Password?" The fat woman asked in a voice that implied she thought very highly of herself.

The prefect at the front of the group, who had a pompous air and a shock of red hair that was just like James'- only didn't stand up so much- must be another cousin, Ren thought, waited patiently for a group of Ravenclaws to pass before he announced to the group.

"Password's _Accio_." He informed them, and the woman in the painting nodded.

"Touche, Mr. Weasley," She said, giggling, and the prefect flushed briefly before entering a hole in the wall that had just appeared as the fat lady swung forward.

The tired first years stood in the common room and listened to a lecture about dress code (uniforms for the school had recently been taken off the list) and proper behavior, before being directed to their dormitories.

Renesmee collapsed onto a bed by the window, sighing. There were three other girls in the room- but two empty beds. Their things were by the door, and, just as Renesmee thought how horrible it would be to have to lug her trunk all the way to her bed, it slid across the floor and positioned itself neatly at the end of her bed.

"Neat," she commented, and the other girls stared at her.

"What?" Ren asked after a few moments of silence, and one of them giggled.

"What were they thinking, sending an _American_ to Hogwarts? Isn't there a school over there for you?" She asked, and her tone suggested she thought Americans were as dirty as the gum on the bottom of your shoe.

"Well, actually, there is, but--"

"Oh, shut up. Your accent gives me a headache," the other girl leered, and Renesmee felt tears sting the backs of her eyes, as the second and third girls giggled along with the offender.

"At least I don't sound congested every time I speak," Renesmee shot back in a mumble just loud enough to hear. The girl sniffled a little, then spat at Renesmee, before plopping on the bed she had chosen and beginning to unpack a little bag of stuffed animals, which she enlarged carefully with her wand. Renesmee sniggered. Each stuffed animal was in pristine condition, and appeared as though it had been carefully maintained over the years. With ribbons tied around their necks.

Ren sighed, and shut her curtains, feeling the weight of her cell phone in her pocket and desperately wanting to listen to Jake. He needed to hear those three words in his voice right now.

She heard the door open and close, and two more voices were added to the giggling and, already gossipping girls in her dorm.

"Who's in that bunk?" She heard someone hiss, trying, and failing, to be unheard.

"Some weird American chick. You know, thinks she's better than us because she comes from the 'land of the free' and isn't ruled by an 'oppressive' monarch." A voice answered, and you could hear the air quotes in her voice. Ren really needed her cell phone.

She pulled it out of her pocket forcefully and pressed the voicemail key.

She heard the beginnings of a call being made, but then it was fuzzed out, replaced by voices saying words in a language she didn't understand. _Accio, impedimenta, expecto patronum. _Renesmee hung up and tried again. Nothing happened.

She took the cell phone away from her ear, staring at the screen, which was not lit up, but had weird stripes of color across it, like when you couldn't get a channel on tv. Then it fuzzed to black.

Renesmee sat up, tears in her eyes. She had thought that Jake's voice was the one thing she could rely on. It could have been the one thing to cheer her up at the end of the day. And nothing.

She shook the cell phone, as though trying to make it work, and, when it didn't respond, chucked it at the wall at the top of her bed, where it broke into pieces and slid down the wall and under the bed.

Renesmee burst into silent tears, grabbing a pillow and burying her face in it.

She would never hear his voice again.

She wanted to talk to James.

James was absorbed in a game of Exploding Snap against the other boys in his dorm- Ryan Longbottom, Nathan Yarsbrough, Daniel Radley, and Bob Paterson.

"Your turn," Bob said, just as there was a tap on the door. James leapt up to answer it, and was surprised to see Ren on the other side.

"Hey! Ren! What're you doing here?" He asked, gesturing her inside. She sat down on the bed near the window, which was his. He noticed that her eyes were slightly swollen and pink.

"The girls in my dorm are awful! Made fun of me for being American!" She informed him, and Bob laughed.

"Really? That's stupid. So'm I." He said, and Ren was relieved to hear a voice that didn't have an accent- well, to her, anyways.

"Whoa- you are?" Nathan asked, glancing at Bob, "I totally didn't realise!"

Everyone in the dorm fell over laughing, including Nathan.

"Anyways... guys, this is Ren," James introduced her to the room, and they nodded their greetings, "Ren, this is Bob, Nathan, Daniel, and Ryan. Welcome," He said, and handed her part of the Exploding Snap deck.

"Wanna play?" He asked, and she hesitated.

"If you'll teach me," she agreed, and he nodded.

"First off, you've got 15 cards..." James began.

**A/N: Okay, short. Spur of the moment. Sorry. Okay... so, just want to acknowledge some inconsistencies in my story- which I'm very sorry about, those are my pet peeves, but I'm really not in the mood to change them... **

**So, first off. James has red hair, but with the shape and texture of Harry's. It never describes him in the epilogue, but it does say Albus looks like Harry, and I really wanted ONE of them to be a ginger, so... **

**Also, I mentioned, I believe, a year's difference between him and Alb. Disregard that. I'm changing it to three. I like three... most of my friends, and myself, have siblings with three years between them. So that's that. **

**Well, I'm pretty sure that's it, but I feel as though I'm missing something, so let me know in a review if you noticed something. **

**TA!**

**Em**

**P.S. If you are from the much superior land we call England, will you let me know what specifically you think of Americans? Don't worry about hurting my feelings. I know I exaggerated in this chapter, but I like the idea of Ren having to hang out with boys all the time- it will make puberty so awkward. Which, yes, she will go through. The age potion is going to be a once- a month thing, and it's going to make her experience everything her buddies experience. **

**Ta for real!**

**Em**

**Oops, I lied. PPS- reviewers get a dormful of boys playing exploding snap. ;)**


	9. Chapter Eight Nightmares of Maturity

**A/N: Ah, reviews. So great to come home to roughly ten emails, all reviews from you guys, my buddies. Have I mentioned lately that I love you? So, I decided to do this again- I went all the way back to the reviews from chapter six, so if I didn't reply to yours, I'm really sorry, and I appreciate it anyways. **

**Lily- Is Luna married to Dean? Did I mention it? She could be. She doesn't work FOR Ollivaner, he's dead. He was rather old, and the months at the Malfoys weakened him. I'm actually writing a fic detailing how she became a wandmaker. The runes- I thought that was dangerous, too. That's why I put them in there ;) I was thinking that the women in the shop were Lavender, and whichever Patil twin was in Gryffindor. As for Mystery Man, you'll have to wait and see.... **

**And no, Professor King as in... you should figure that out on your own, too. **

**Misti D: Your review positively tickled me. You rock. I'm glad you think my writing is well thought out... because, in reality, I don't think when I write. **

**Oh, Lily again: Wow. I feel stupid for not noticing Margaret the Misplaced. My brain was in Lily mode ;) Sorry about the uniforms, but I didn't want to disappoint Alice. Did you like the Dan and Bob thing? I felt very clever. And would you feel better if you were playing Exploding Snape? You can interpret that any way you want. ;)**

**RIOTH: Thanks for the criticism. I truly value everything anyone has to say. I just wanted to repeat that I don't put much effort into this, like I do for anything else I put up. This one is mostly for fun. And I only had four hours of sleep the night before. Which explains... me, being confusing. **

**Amylily123: why thank you. Oh, yes, wearing real clothes is awesome. Though I don't mind plaid. And I love YOUR accents! My friends and I have made it our goals to marry someone British. And I know that Britain and America are actually kind of friends now, but I have still heard some mean things on your end of the spectrum ;) And Bob Paterson is a reference to Rob Patterson. Just as Dan Radley is Daniel Radcliffe... yes? **

**Tattygal95: my goal is not to be fantastic, but I'm really glad you think so. :)**

**Time for Chapter Eight! I love you guys! SO MUCH! And I'm going to be posting a new story that I'll actually be editing and beta-ing and what not. I have to edit it first, though ;)**

Ren's eyes opened against a really hard pillow. She closed them, turned her head to the side, and yawned.

"UCK!" A male voice hollered, and Ren leapt up, wide awake.

"Ren, you have morning breath!" James laughed, and Ren stared at him. WHY WAS SHE IN THE BOY'S DORM?

"Oh my god! Did I fall asleep playing Exploding Snap?!" She exclaimed, covering her mouth. James laughed.

"Yeah. But it's not a big deal. We've still got plenty of time before breakfast for you to shower and get dressed... and brush your teeth," he added as an afterthought, and Ren glared at him.

"That's not the problem, here, James!" She said fiercely, yanking on her shoes.

"Well then, what is it?" He asked, his face a muddled mess of confusion.

"This is the boy's dorm! The girls are going to think... they're going to think..." Ren realized suddenly that she was talking to someone with a much lower maturity level than herself.

"What're they going to think?" James inquired eagerly, and Ren frowned, clearing the emotions from her face.

"Nothing. I'm going to go get dressed," She said, and quickly descended the stairs, laughing really hard as soon as she knew she was out of earshot.

Harry woke up to the sounds of a wailing six year old girl, and rolled over to tell Ginny it was her turn. Then he remembered she was away at a booksigning. Why Ginny had to sign a book by Gwenog Jones, Harry had no idea, but she was a member of the team...

Albus started moaning from the room over, begging his father to shut Lily up. Harry groaned, rolled over, and went across the hall and started on the path to Lily's room, surprised that James hadn't already went into his little sister's room to comfort her. As he passed the room his eldest son usually occupied, he realized with a stab that James was gone. He stopped in his tracks, gazing at the stretch of blank wall between James's and Lily's rooms. Harry swayed a little.

He had sent his oldest son to Hogwarts. He felt so... _old_. Here he was, Minister of Magic, staring at a wall. He shook it off, and went into Lily's room.

"Dah-deeee!" She moaned when she saw him, and he lifted her from the tiny bed, cradling her in his arms. She was so little. Born early, Lily had always been a tiny little girl. Harry buried his face in her hair, murmuring comforting words.

"Nightmare, Lily-bo-billy?" He inquired when she had calmed down a bit.

"Hogwarm's express... cr-cr-_crashed_." Lily sniffeled, then let out a wail and clutched tightly to her father's tee shirt. Harry paled, and tried to stop his hands shaking as he patted Lily's back soothingly. James hadn't written yet. What if it _had_ crashed?

Harry shook his head infinitesimally. McGonnagal would have Patronus-ed. Hell, McGonnagal would have shown up in person. There was no way he wouldn't know.

And James hadn't written because it was only the first morning- hell, he probably hadn't even figured out where the owlery was yet. Everything was going to be fine.

Harry normally wasn't such a worry wart- after all, he had been through much worse in his days, and had raised his kids to handle anything, but the tall, pale man had returned to his dreams last night.

In this one, he was pacing the length of a dark hallway, much like the one that led to the department of mysteries, murmuring to himself about vampires.

Harry Potter couldn't shake the feeling it had something to do with Voldemort.

"This is easily the best human food I have ever tasted!" Ren said, only saying 'human' loud enough for James to hear. It was lunch, and Renesmee couldn't get over the fact that this food was even better than her Dad's- that was a rare occurrence. In fact, Ren couldn't ever remember that happening.

Not that human food was ever really all that good. But Ren could get used to this.

Ren waved to a girl from her Herbology class across the Hall, and the petite blonde waved back, her close-set eyes widening in excitement. The girls from Ren's dorm started to pass by, and Ren turned to Dan and quickly picked up a conversation with him. She heard the hoarde of girls laughing, a little too hard. Dan was telling Ren a funny story, and she laughed- for real.

"Hey Julia!" James shouted at one of the girls- the one with the nasal-y voice who had made fun of Ren yesterday. He was waving excitedly at her, and almost fell out of his chair.

"James," Julia said with a short nod, before proceeding to the end of the table she and her friends had taken over.

James looked at Bob, raising his eyebrows.

"Did you see that? She said hi!" James exclaimed, before happily spooning some stew into his mouth. Ren felt a stab of hurt hit her in the chest- hard.

"Dude, she knows your _name_." Dan pointed out, and James sat up, puffing up his chest.

"Of course she does. She's Professor Longbottom's neice. I see her at holidays sometimes," he pointed out, and the other boys looked at him enviously, save for Ryan, who was, unfortunately, related to Julia.

"Hmm... what do we have this afternoon?" Ren asked, hoping for a subject change. She didn't see what the big deal was. If Ren didn't take an age potion, they would all be swooning over her. None of the other girls in her dorm even had an inkling of boobs. The only thing that made Julia special was that her clothes were brand name, and fit her nicely. And that only made her special from the rest of the girls- Ren was one better. Not only were her clothes brand name, but most of them were designer, made _specially for her. _

"We've got a free period next, then double potions with King and the Slytherins, then Transfiguration with McGonnagal and then on to dinner," Nathan said, and Ryan nodded, slipping his schedule back in his bag.

"And Astronomy tonight," Bob recalled, and the rest murmured agreements.

"What're you going to do during the free period?" Ren asked, hoping the answer was not going to their dorms. McGonnagal had found out she had slept there, and Ren was banned for two weeks.

"Common room. I have to write a letter to my Dad," James said, "Is anyone else a little homesick?" He asked, looking a little down. Renesmee wrapped her arm around him in a quick squeeze. She knew how he felt- she had been homesick for half a year now.

"I think that's a good idea, my Mum will want to hear from me," Nathan mumbled, "She's not really busy in the Apothecary this time of year, sold a bunch of owls right before school started, so there's not as much poo to clean up," he explained, and everyone but Ren giggled at his use of the word poo.

"Aunt Alice will want to hear about what I'm wearing," Ren said, mostly to herself, but everyone looked.

"Um. Why?" James asked what was on everyone's mind, and Ren laughed.

"Oh. My Auntie Alice just likes to know what I'm wearing. She has this whole thing figured out about how what you wear affects your mood, so she'll know how things are going when I mention that I'm wearing my favorite dress," Ren explained with a laugh, gesturing to the slightly shimmery grey dress. She liked it because it was simple, and subtle. She was also wearing her locket, and fingered it gently. The picture of Jake had fallen out right before he died, and she had meant to replace it, but then...

The backs of her eyes stung, and she got up.

"See you in the common room?" She asked, making as though she had to go to the bathroom.

"Yeah," chorused the boys, going back to their lunches.

Ren raced up to the common room, and collapsed on a couch as soon as she got inside.

It was going to be a long year.

"This just came from James," Harry said, holding out the letter to his wife, and leaning his head against the headboard of their bed in exhaustion.

"Are you alright?" Ginny asked, scooching closer to her husband and putting a hand on his forehead.

"I keep having these... dreams..." Harry explained, and Ginny raised her eyebrows in worry.

"Like...?" She inquired. She had been with Harry through many different sorts of dreams. There were the ones he used to have with Voldemort, the nightmares he had for years after he defeated Riddle, the dreams he had right before they found out she was pregnant with James, where his father would tease him about being a horrible husband, and there were the ones he had on normal nights, where he would wake up and tell her a tangled stream of words like "toasted banana tattoos," before he got in the shower and really woke up.

"Like the ones from when Tom was alive. Like the ones I started having fourth year," He answered, runing his hand over his face. Ginny exhaled quickly.

"Harry?" She asked shakily.

"Mmm..."

"H-he is d... d-dead, right? He's not coming back?" She asked in a whisper, afraid to even voice it as a possibility.

"Gin... I have to believe that he's dead. You can't even say something like that. There is no way that twisted bastard is coming back into this world. James and Albus and Lily will not go through what I did." Harry whispered, his voice strangled.

"Then what are these dreams?" Ginny demanded.

"I don't _know_!" Harry groaned, "Read the damn letter, Gin." He said.

_Dad-_

_School is awesome. I got sorted to Gryffindor- no surprise there. The train ride was a lot longer than I imagined, even though you warned me. I was with Vic most of the time, but then a bunch of her friends joined, talking about boys and the like, so I left to find my own compartment. _

_There weren't any empty ones, so I sat in this girl's compartment- her name is Renesmee. Weird, huh? Even weirder than Alb's name. I wish you had waited longer to name him. I would have never let you name him that. _

_Anyways, she's American, and really cool. And, get this- she's half vampire. The girls in her dorm were really mean to her last night- she came into ours and played Exploding Snap with us until she fell asleep on our floor- McGonnagal was NOT happy. She's banned from the boy's dormitory for two weeks. I don't see why. It's not like she did anything but play cards and fall asleep. _

_Ryan's in Gryffindor, too. So is Nathan Yarsbrough, Dan Radley, and Bob Paterson. They're all pretty cool. Neville already assigned us an essay, we're supposed to practice wand movements for Transfiguration and Charms, and we have an essay for Potions, too, so I've got to go, but I'll tell you more later, maybe? _

_How does Lily like Muggle Primary School? Is she still having nightmares? Is Al being mean to her? Give Mum and Lils kisses for me. Thwack Al on the head. _

_James_

"So he hit it off with the vampire?" Ginny mused, and Harry laughed.

"I love how it surprised him- he was with me the whole time I explained it to the Prime Minister." He said, shaking his head.

"Well, you know that little portrait. He likes to chat. Your end of him has kept you distracted from a speech more than once." Ginny pointed out, tapping the binder in Harry's lap that was supposed to contain his next speech- but instead, it held a stack of blank parchment.

"I hate speeches. I hate standing in front of a crowd and talking and having my picture taken. People don't even care that we're trying to majorly change wizarding laws- just that I'm Harry Fucking Potter," He complained, and Ginny sighed.

"I know, darling, but you have to write it anyways. Get to work," She prodded, turning off the light on her side of the bed and rolling over away from him so that she wouldn't be bothered by the scribbling of his quill.

_The oppression of the werewolves has gone on for too long. My godson, Teddy Lupin..._

Harry began, and somewhere far away, an owl hooted.

"_Getting in will be the difficult part. They are heavily guarded. We will not be able to Stun them all at once, but if we don't, they will attack us, and they possess greater strength and speed than any wizard can. So, we use the girl," The man explained in a hoarse, quiet voice, as though to a lover. It was dark, and Harry could see only black, until the far away whoosh of a car passing began, and the room was illuminated by headlights. Two people lay on a bed, naked. Harry could only tell it was two because there were four legs. The woman was completely smothering the man, and her lips moved in a spiderweb pattern across him. _

"_Faster," The man said, and the woman obliged. _

_Harry, being an ex-Auror, recognised this scene as rape. Not in the traditional, 'he shoved her against a wall and thrust into her', sense, but this woman certainly had no desire to be in a bed, naked, with this man. _

_A cackle broke the silence, and Harry saw the arc of the man's back against the mattress as he climaxed, before..._

Harry woke up in a cold sweat.

"Ginny," He croaked, and she sat up. It was five in the morning, and early morning light filled the room.

"Mmm?" Ginny moaned, stretching. She didn't want to get up, quite yet.

"You'd tell me if it was ever too much, right?" Harry asked, and Ginny turned to face him.

"If what was?"

"You know..." he gestured to their scattered clothes around the room.

"Oh," Ginny said with comprehension, then pondered the question, before answering, "Harry, I will never have enough. So no, it will never be too much," She answered, and kissed him gently before burrowing back under the covers and drifting back to sleep.

Who were his dreams coming from?


	10. Chapter Nine Big Trouble

A/N: For those of you who are counting... In my universe, James and Al are three years apart. So, instead of having James seven years after the battle, as most people assume when they read the DH epilogue, he was born four years after the battle. Some of you might criticize me, hypothesizing that Ginny and Harry would enjoy married life for as long as possible before having children, but I like to think that they didn't have any of their children on purpose- because all the oops babies I know are especially nice.

The letter looked like something straight out of a bad crime show. The address on the front of the parchment was made out of cut out and glued on letters from Muggle newspapers, and the inside was typed in a generic font. It was a threat to the Minister of Magic.

Draco Malfoy frowned, running his finger over the letters. It was like something Voldemort would send, just lacking the artistic qualities he would have added- poisoned paper in his early years, or, in his later years, traceable to someone he wanted in Azkaban. He knew Harry wanted to be notified of this sort of thing, but then entire Auror Department was reluctant. This was not the first threat they had received, and they knew it wouldn't be the last. But this one gave Draco a funny feeling.

There was a knock on the door, and Draco jumped.

"Come in," He murmured when he realized that he was alone in his nightmares of the rebirth of Voldemort. Nightmares that had kept him up for weeks.

"Malfoy, did you look at that file I gave you?" Bill Weasley asked, and Malfoy rubbed his nose.

"No, Mr. Weasley, I was... interrupted..." Malfoy explained, holding out the letter, "This came through our screening. It's for the Minister," The Head of the Auror Department took it, his fang earring quivering as his face reddened in anger, his eyes darting over the page.

"I think we should strengthen security around the Minister and his family..." Draco began, but was cut off by Bill's sharp glare.

"Harry can take care of himself. So can Ginny."

"But Albus and Lily..." Draco pointed out, and Bill's lips tightened, "Even Mr. Dursley and his wife. Whoever is thinking things like this will use people's family for revenge. It's the same thinking as the Dark Lord and his followers."

"Draco... you are truly a great assett, and I will get on that right away," Bill said, giving Malfoy a squeeze on the shoulder before yanking a thick red folder out from under another stack of papers.

"Read it." He ordered, and waltzed out of the room.

Malfoy picked up the folder and thumbed through its contents, his mind still buzzing with the words from the letter.

_We will kill off your dirty halfblood offspring bit by bit, until we finally reach you, and tear you apart with bloodstained hands._

"Harry, you're getting threats again," Bill announced as he waltzed into Harry's office.

Harry raised his eyes from the papers on his desk, peering at Bill through his spectacles.

"From?"

"Mr. Malfoy is going to start tracing them, um, tomorrow. After he finishes reviewing the Hinshaw case." Bill decided on the spot, and Harry took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"He should start now. That case is over, it can wait. A letter is easier to trace when the trail is fresh. Did they send it via owl?" Harry was thinking of appointing a new Department Head. Bill was fine, but Harry knew he missed his old job, and now that the girls were older Fleur probably wouldn't mind him being away a bit more. Not to mention he was rubbish in situations like this. Harry needed someone a bit more competent.

"Um... I dunno. There was an unfamiliar owl in Malfoy's office..." Bill replied, scratching his nose.

"Could you send him here? Please?" Harry asked, and Bill frowned.

"Why don't you just fire me?" He asked in frustration, and Harry laughed calmly.

"Because, you're bloody good in the field, you're just pure rubbish at the behind-the-scenes stuff." Harry reminded him, "Just send me Malfoy."

"Right," Bill said in a huff, and took off towards the Auror Department. Harry continued to read the tedious memo on his desk until Malfoy came skidding into the room, a few papers clutched in his hands.

"Sir? You wanted to see me?" He said, staring at the papers.

"Harry."

"Excuse me?" Draco looked up at his old enemy, confused.

"Please, Draco. You've known this for years. Call me Harry." Harry clarified, and Draco bit his lip.

"Erm, Harry, this letter was sent to you, and came through our screening system as potentially dangerous... it's not poisoned or anything, we checked, so it's safe to touch," Draco explained, handing Harry the letter. He gave Harry a moment to read it.

Harry scanned it, his face paling a little, but kept up his calm appearance.

"Well, it appears as though someone wants me dead." Harry observed, setting down the letter and putting his hands beneath his desk, wishing they would stop shaking.

_We will rip apart every member of your family, everyone you care about, and wave the pieces in your face like a flag. Only after you have suffered more than you could ever imagine will we end your pain, slowly and painfully._

"And what we want to know is why." Draco agreed, placing something else on the Minister's desk.

"Well, I'm the first competent minister the Department has had for years, so of course someone will want me dead. I tell the public the truth, and it's not what they're used to. It's not what they want." Harry guessed, running a hand through his hair and glancing at a complicated diagram that Malfoy had just put on his desk.

"Right. But, we also think it could be someone who heard about the whole Dark Lord buisness all those years ago and decided it would be fun to take up some of his old practices." Draco traced a finger over a few of the lines in the diagrams, "See this? It's coming from the same place I used to live. Where Malfoy Manor was. Where the purebloods went. It's all in ruins now, but it would be a nice place to set up a secret hideout to do this from. No one tends to their properties any more. It's just a horrible reminder." Draco's tone became somber, and he started picking at his nails again. Harry felt a surge of sympathy for his coworker.

His parents were both dead. Narcissa had been ruled not guilty of Death Eater practices in the trials that followed the Second War, thanks to Harry's testimony of her remorse. However, he had been unable to save Lucius, due to his lack of remorseful gestures. Rather than make the weak man suffer in Azkaban, he had been hanged three years after the final battle. Narcissa had died shortly after, presumably of loneliness.

"So have you found where the hideout is?" Harry asked, and Draco shook his head.

"No. It's unplottable. The only way we got this," The blonde gestured to the complicated diagrams on Harry's desk, "Is because it's our job to know the loopholes."

"Ugh. Magic is such a pain sometimes," Harry complained, stretching, "Do you have any idea where they could be? More specific, I mean."

"No. This is all we have. It shows the district where I was born, raised... as was every other pureblood who shared our values. And that's all we have. Even when we try to label the streets, it stops working. Whoever made it unplottable did a fool-proof job," Draco grinned proudly, "But it's not Auror proof. We're also working on identifying where the newspaper letters for the address and the font for the type came from. We have the type narrowed down to three different typewriters circa 1970, and every single R in the address has been identified as letters from headings in the Daily Prophet- every one of them exactly the same," Draco said, getting excited, and pointing to the R's in 'Minister, Harry, and Potter.'

"Which means they bought more than one copy," Harry said quietly, admiring the handiwork.

"And the paper fibers from each one are completely different, so each of five newspapers came from a different spot. If we didn't have this," Draco gestured to the diagram from before, "it would be utterly impossible to trace. Whoever sent this only overlooked one thing- the owl they used, and how we can identify distance and direction with them."

"Explain to me how that works. You've changed it since I stopped Auror-ing, haven't you?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"Yes. Owls that are unfamiliar can no longer go straight to the recipient. Without reading the contents of the mail, we study them to log where they came from. We look for which ways the feathers have been blown, how tired the owl is, how much food it eats when offered, how much food it has digested on the trip, and several other factors." Draco explained, and Harry nodded, stopping him from continuing.

"It seems a little imperfect. What if they made stops along the way?" Harry commented, and Draco smiled.

"That was my argument. But, after some research, we discovered that owls are not only trained to continue on their journey, but actually have an unbreakable charm on them keeping them from staying in one place for too long. Eeylop came up with it. It's genius, and it really does us a favor." Malfoy checked his watch.

"Do you have to be somewhere?" Harry joked.

"Um, the results for where the paper is from are coming..." Draco said, and Harry laughed.

"Go. Figure out all you can, and don't report to me. Tell Bill I put you in charge of this case. And could you pass this on to him?" Harry asked, passing Draco a letter he had just scribbled down.

"Sure." Draco said, and walked sheepishly out of the room, suddenly realising how informal he had been with the Minister.

"Thank you, Draco."

"Thank you, sir."

Harry sighed. It never ended.

***

"OW!" Renesmee sucked on her thumb, which had just been damaged by a squealing Mandrake. No one heard her, however, due to the fact that everyone's ears were covered with muffs.

She could still hear through hers, and wondered if that was dangerous. She was feeling a little sleepy, but figured that was more because James had kept her up last night with Wizard's Chess than the howling of the mandrakes. She shoved the stupid thing in a bigger pot and dumped a bag of soil on it.

There was a loud bang, and everyone threw soil in their pots and yanked off their earmuffs. Renesmee was the second one out of the classroom, racing to catch up with James, who seemed to be in a bad mood. She caught him in a hard grasp and yanked him into a corner of the courtyard at top speed. James glared at her.

"Don't do that! You scared the shit out of me!" He growled, his eyes narrowed.

"James, why aren't you talking to me? Seriously! It's almost dinner and you keep avoiding me. What the hell is wrong?" Renesmee replied, trying to avoid his eyes so he wouldn't see the tears that wouldn't stop flowing from her eyes. It was late October, and the tears had been coming less often. James wouldn't be happy to see that it was happening again. Ren just couldn't stand being shut out.

"My dad." James huffed, "Look, I'll tell you but I'm not supposed to, so can we do this tonight? I just... let's do this later. Okay?"

"Okay. Just talk to me next time. I can't stand being freezed out." Renesmee replied in a forgiving tone, and James nodded, exiting to the castle. Ren sighed, slumping against the wall and wishing she could talk to Zafrina.

***

Ren waited for James for an hour in the common room, but he never showed. When she was certain all the girls in her dorm were in the common room, she gave up on James and went upstairs to catch up on sleep. Thank god it was Friday- she couldn't have gone one more day with an early wakeup. She dropped onto her mattress and was asleep practically by the time her head hit the pillow.

That night, Renesmee had a weird dream. She was watching someone writhe in pain on the ground, her wand hand extended. Her wand was clutched tightly in her fist, and it seemed to be vibrating, some sort of raw power exuding from it. A single word hissed through her lips.

"_Crucio_."

**

James shook Renesmee awake, urgently murmuring her name.

"Ren, Ren, come on. Wake up! I need to talk to you!" James said, pulling on a strand of her hair.

"OW! James, what the hell?!" Ren mumbled, burying her face in her pillow and absently swatting in James's general direction.

"C'mon, Ren, you have to get up! You were having a bad dream, I think, you kept whimpering, but if I'm right then you need to get up! My brother gets those a lot, you have to stay awake and distract yourself, or you'll start sleepwalking. I think..." James urged, shaking Ren some more.

"Ugh. James, I don't sleepwalk. What do you need?" Ren asked, rolling over to face him.

James's face grew morose, and he held out three sheets of parchment.

"I think my Dad's in trouble."


	11. Chapter Ten I Had To Do It

"Draco? I got another one over the Christmas hols. I was going to tell you, but it was Jamie's first time home and we were really busy, you know, big family and all, and--" Harry said, waltzing into the office of his new Head Auror and fussing in his bag for the letter that he knew was in there somewhere, then raising his eyebrows when he caught sight of his second in command, head down on his desk, shoulders heaving, "Hey, Draco. What are you doing?"

Draco's head snapped up, and he wiped a sleeve over his eyes.

"Nothing, Potter. What do you want?" He spat, and Harry laughed.

"Hey, Malfoy? I'm your boss now. You should probably let go of that schoolboy grudge." Harry advised, and Malfoy's pale cheeks flushed.

"Sorry... I just had a hard two weeks. What was it you needed?" Draco composed himself, and Harry narrowed his eyes.

"Look, Draco, you have a huge responsibility now as head Auror. If there's something going on that could interfere with your work, you have to tell me, or someone else, because keeping things bottled up can really screw with your head. I sat behind that desk for two years. I know what it's like. And you need to be able to trust someone. My life and the lives of my family are in your hands, and I'm trusting you with that. But if I can't... I can appoint a new head. And you know that if you retire, you're heading straight to Azkaban. I don't think either of us wants that." Harry said, sitting in one of the armchairs across from Draco and leaning back.

"You're right. But what's the point? I mean, as long as I do good on the case, who cares if something's going on in my personal life?" Draco retorted, and Harry frowned.

"Do well on the case. And the point is, we've never been the best of friends, but if you need to unload, I'm the best person to do it with. I went through more emotional turmoil in seventeen years of my life than most people do in a life time. Not to mention, I don't have a lot to do. Being Minister isn't as time-consuming as you would think." Harry grinned cheekily, and Draco sighed.

"It's Leila. She miscarried again."

Harry sobered, leaning forward with his elbows on Draco's desk.

"I'm so sorry," Harry said sincerely, "How is she doing?"

"Not well. Scorpius... well, it wasn't his best Christmas ever." Draco ran a shaky hand through his hair, clear sadness settling into his face.

"Hm." Harry replied, knowing that he would talk on his own.

"She's determined to have more, I'm just worried that next time something worse will happen." Draco continued, and Harry frowned, nodding his understanding.

"Why does she want more so badly?" Harry inquired.

"It's not just her. It's me, too. Both of us grew up as only children, with parents who were only satisfied if we met their pureblood expectations, and were never satisfied even if we did. We grew up jealous of the other kids we knew, who had siblings to play with and parents who loved them. We hated the pureblood ideals we were surrounded with. We wanted better for our own kids. We wanted a big family, we wanted them to be accepted in non-Slytherin settings. But we're having such trouble staying full term..." Draco mumbled, and Harry smiled.

"Draco, Scorpius will have every single one of those things, even if he doesn't have a huge family. And besides, when he gets to Hogwarts, he'll have a bigger family than anyone, if you raise him the way you wished you had been. That's where I got my first real family." Harry assured his colleague, who forced a smile.

"Thanks. I'll tell Leila. Anyways, what did you need?" Draco asked, straightening up and smooting out the creases in his robes.

"I got another letter," Harry grimaced, "Now we know why they hate me. They're taking after bloody Umbridge." He pulled out the letter and smoothed it out on Draco's desk.

_You spread your lies and you create mixed blood beasts, half breeds, abominations, they don't deserve to live. Neither do you. You can't force your half-breed worship on the rest of us, we will not let it happen. _

_We will defeat you._

_And we will destroy everything you care about._

Draco scanned the letter, his brow furrowing.

"That's weird..." He mumbled, opening a drawer in his desk and removing the file containing all the previous letters. He shuffled through them.

"What?" Harry asked, leaning forwards and studying the letters as carefully as Draco was, but not seeing what he was seeing.

"The paper- it's different. Look, it's darker. And there are fibers in a different shade." Draco shuffled through the papers, observing more carefully, "And look, the font... it's the same, but it's a bit thinner. Was there an owl?"

"Not that I saw. It was in the kitchen when I woke up." Harry answered, "So that means...?"

"Well, it either means that they ran out of the other paper, or..." Draco grinned, "We're getting warmer. They're trying to confuse us."

"Excellent. The only thing is... what if it works?"

"It won't. My people are too good." Draco said proudly, and shooed Harry out of his office, "Go. We both have work to do."

**

"Dad said he's all right. I dunno. I guess he can take care of himself. He's been an Auror since he got out of school. But..." James looked up at Renesmee from underneath his sandy red fringe.

"But?" Renesmee prodded, scooting back in the seat of the train compartment, trying to get reaccustomed to her eleven year old body. She recongnised the guilty expression on James's face from the first few weeks of school, when he had to explain to Professor McGonnagal why Renesmee had spent the last three nights in the boys' dorm.

"I didn't tell him about the letter I got."

"James! Why the hell not?" Renesmee scolded, and James bit his lip.

"Well, when I got home for the hols...

_James eagerly stepped off the train at the platform. Already having said his goodbyes to Ren, he charged towards the large group of Weasleys awaiting his arrival. He spotted the dark black head above the crowd that was his Dad's, and slammed into him, dropping his things beside Uncle Ron. Harry whirled up his son, even though he was getting too big for it, and hugged him close._

"_Hey, son! It's great to see you, Jamie! How's school been?" He asked, trying to balance his eighty pound son on his hip. James laughed and wiggled downwards. _

"_Great. I miss you guys, though." _

"_We miss you, too. Hey, buddy. You're coming in the car with me and your Mum, we need to talk to you, but you can't tell your brother and sister, okay?"Harry said, and James frowned._

"_Dad? Is everyone okay?" James asked, and Harry nodded. _

_  
"Of course. I just wanted to warn you ahead of time. We're going to be here a while saying hi to everyone." Harry said, patting his son on the back and scooting him back towards the hoarde of redheads, who all fought for a chance to hug and kiss James. _

"_You're the first Weasley boy to come home in a few years, Jamie! We're so proud of you!" And various versions of such greetings spewed from the group, and James did his best to keep up a positive attitude, even though he was deathly nervous about the talk with his Mum and Dad. Something was going on, and James wasn't sure he liked it. _

_As the various Weasleys piled into their cars, James waving apologetically to his only three cousins who were in school, Fred, Kendra, and Victoire, feeling as though it wasn't fair he was getting all the attention. But, it was his first time home. They had given all of them the same greeting. Al and Lily were going with Aunt Ron and Hermione, who lived a few doors down from the Potters in Godric's Hollow. Ginny got in the front seat of the Potter's car, and Harry joined James in the back. _

"_Jamie," Ginny said as she pulled away from King's Cross, "Your father and I need to talk to you about something going on at Daddy's work." _

"_Mum, I'm not Lily and Al. You don't have to treat me like a baby." James complained, and Ginny smiled, glancing into the rearview mirror at her eldest som. _

"_I know. I forget sometimes. You've grown up so fast. Harry, will you talk to your son?" Ginny asked, and Harry sighed. _

"_Jem, I've been receiving some nasty letters lately. Threats. We just want you to know that there's going to be extra security when we go shopping in Diagon Alley, and if we go anywhere else over the hols. You're also going to have your mail checked when you go back to school, unless it's from me or your mum. And you'll have to tell us if there's anything funny going on at school, alright? We don't want you in danger. I know it's going to stink, because I used to have to deal with that kind of nonsense, but I'm not going to do anything that will violate your privacy, okay?" Harry said in a rush, feeling guilty for making his son go through the very thing he had always hated. _

"_Okay, Dad. It's not that big of a deal. Fred likes to go through my letters anyways, so I'm used to it." James assured his father, avoiding the mention of the letters in his trunk. Mum could be over protective sometimes, and if it was really that big of a deal, she might pull him out of school. _

"_You've seen Fred going through your mail? He and his father are usually more artistic than that..."Ginny mused, her brow furrowed. James laughed. _

"_Yeah, he is. He trained his Invisible Pygmy Puff to sneak into me and Victoire's dorms and steal our things. I don't know how he manages to see the little bugger, but it's downright clever what he's gotten it to do." James explained. Harry was laughing in earnest, and he clapped his son on the back as Ginny pulled into the drive of their house. _

"_Your cousins are definitely their father's children." Harry told his son, and they ducked their heads to make it past the swarms of reporters who were gathered on the streets, shoving through to the front door. _

"So, I couldn't tell him, Ren! Mum'd pull me out of school, I'm sure of it. And Dad gave me this..." James reached into the bag beside him and pulled out a withered sheet of parchment. He mumbled an incantation and opened it up, revealing a map of the school.

"Look, we can use this to spy on Fred and Kendra. It'll drive them nuts when we spoil their pranks. It's my first year of school, Ren. I can't miss it." James smoothed out the map, and Ren studied a dot in the dungeons, labeled _Theodore King_. It was moving around in jagged, rhythmic patterns.

"James, look... I think Professor King is dancing!" Ren laughed, and James moved closer to appraise the dot.

"Godric, he is! This is the funniest thing I've ever seen. I just wish... I wish we could really see that," James said, chuckling.

"This is awesome, James. But... you still should have told your father. You could be in big trouble!" Ren got back on topic, thrusting the map at James and sliding around the perimeter of the brightly lit compartment to sit next to him.

"Yeah, but Ren, no one can get into the Hogwarts grounds by Apparating, they can only floo in if given express permission by the Ministry, the Headmistress, _and_ the person being flooed, and you shouldn't even _try _to fly a broom over the gates, from what my Dad told me. It's completely guarded. Plus, I think he might be having Aurors patrolling Hogsmeade. I'm perfectly fine." James insisted, and Ren shook her head.

"I think you've gone insane, but whatever. Did you have a good Christmas?" Ren asked, lounging casually against the wall of the compartment, enjoying the feeling of the January sunshine streaming in through the window.

"Yeah. Fred and Kendra got a kick out of telling everyone how you were going around saying 'Merry Christmas', until Vic told them off for being rude. No one stands up to Vic when she gets going. Grandmum knitted me and Uncle Ron matching sweaters in _marroon_... I don't know what posseses her to use that color, but Mum knitted me an okay one, it's blue. Al and Lily loved the candy I got them off the cart. What about you?" James asked, and Ren smiled, remembering her Christmas, and how strange it had been. It ended up being a lot more fun than she expected it to be- the absence of Jake was still a stab in the gut, but it was easier, somehow. Renesmee guessed that it was due to the unfamiliar environment. Carlisle's old house was incredible, and a totally different experience. It was an old, ancient cottage. It was hard to believe it was still standing. You could tell Esme had had a field day restoring it. When you saw it from the outside, it looked like an expanded old times cottage, but when you got inside, it was cozy, yet spacious. There was only one bedroom, that was for Renesmee, but that was all they needed. They spent a week of the two weeks vacation there, and the other week in Greece, on a secluded island where no one could see their skin sparkle.

"Great," Ren replied, "After we arrived in London, we took off to my grandpa's old house and spent a week there with everyone, then a week in Greece. Swimming, sunbathing... it was so fun."

"Did you get anything good?" James prodded, and Ren shrugged.

"Aunt Alice bought me a bunch of new clothes, but she does that every day of the year, so... nothing that special. Except..." Ren smiled, reaching into her jacket pocket, "Dad found this in Diagon Alley one day while I was at school. It's like a Muggle MP3 player, but it's magic, so it will work at school. Plus, you just have to tell it what you want on it. It's so cool." Ren pulled out what looked like a tiny grand piano from her pocket, and showed it to James.

"Oh, yeah! That's from my Uncle George's shop- that's Fred and Kendra's dad. He started selling those the year they went to school, they were a big hit, but everyone kept losing them." James shook his head, "I dunno how Muggles keep track of little things like that. I mean, it's easy to keep track of a wand, but how do you keep from losing something like a smell phone, or whatever?" Renesmee laughed at James, who frowned.

"What?"

"Smell phone. It's a _cell _phone. But nice try," Renesmee grinned, and toyed with the miniature grand piano in her palm, "We're just used to it, I guess."

***

"_Crucio! Crucio!" Renesmee mumbled, her voice excited, hard, the pure adrenaline of the moment ripping through her. Her pale white hands shook, her grip on her wand tightened, and she gazed at the long, thin stick of wood with pride and affection, then raised her eyes to the body, writhing in pain before her._

"_Avada--" _

Renesmee woke with a start to the sound of the compartment door sliding open. Her heart was racing, her palms sweating. She wiped them off on her sweatpants and looked up to see who had caused the disturbance. There was no one in the compartment, however, two red heads were making their way down the corridor outside it. Ren sighed. She had fallen asleep, and James had gone off to cause mischeif with Fred.

She thought about the dream she had woken up from. In the brief moments when she was enveloped in that dream world, she was excited, happy, even, to be causing the man on the ground so much pain. But why? It gave her goosebumps when she thought about it afterwards. It must be Dark Magic, she concluded, and then she remembered the day she had gotten her wand. She bit her lip and took it from the case in her trunk, examining the runes on the sides.

What did they mean? Was Renesmee destined to become as dirty as the Volturi? As Jane? To live only for the purpose of causing people pain?

Renesmee gripped her wand. She would _not _let that happen.

***

Renesmee knocked nervously on the door of Professor McGonnagal's office.

"Come in!" McGonnagal called from the depths of the room. The heavy wooden door swung open, and Renesmee stepped inside.

"Ms. Cullen! What a surprise... how on Earth did you get past the gargoyles?" McGonnagal chuckled, looking up from a stack of parchment on her desk and peering over her glasses at Renesmee.

"Sorry, Professor... I got the password from Hagrid, I just had tea with him this afternoon. I haven't even unpacked yet, James and I went straight to his cabin." Renesmee explained, and McGonnagal smiled.

"Yes. Well, sit down, Ms. Cullen. Would you like a cookie?" McGonnagal held out a dish of cookies, and Renesmee gratefully accepted one.

"Thanks. Hagrid isn't much of a cook, and I haven't eaten since I got off the train."

"That was quite some hours ago. Help yourself. Now, tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, Professor... I was wondering if I could take the Ancient Runes class offered to the third years... I came across some while I was on break, and I've been interested since." Renesmee said, hoping this was a valid reason. McGonnagal studied her carefully.

"I see, Ms. Cullen. Well, as we are midway through the school year, and you wouldn't really be too far behind, I suppose I could allow you to take the class... but you'll have to present me with a strong argument as to why you are able." McGonnagal said, a smile playing at her lips.

"I thought you might ask that. As you know, Professor, I have a greater maturity level and a larger capacity for information than the other students in my year. I feel as though my potential is not being reached in the classes I am currently enrolled in, they are too easy for me. And I was raised in the Muggle world. Further more, you will see that every assignment I have been given this year has been done on time and received a satisfactory grade. I think these arguments alone are enough to allow me to attend this class, but, if you are not convinced, you should take note of the fact I have used the words 'potential', 'furthermore', and 'satisfactory' the correct way, and I can dictate a speech such as this one without once using the words 'um', 'like', or 'ohmigod'. There's another word. Dictate." Renesmee prattled off, smiling coyly.

Professor McGonnagal grinned.


	12. Chapter Eleven Bear With Me

A/N: Wow. I am so, so sorry for the long wait guys. I am really ashamed of myself. Mostly also because, well. I've forgotten where I'm going with this. I know, I know. You are all throwing rotten tomatoes at me and insisting I should find better forms of organization. Boohoo. So, I'm going to brainstorm, conference with Lily, or, as she's now known, Filledecriture, and hopefully come up with some new and wonderful ideas. So here's a chapter with me totally winging it... a little bit of characterizing, delving into life outside off Hogwarts, etc... wherin we will begin to lose all hope of Em ever forming real plot, and discover that her writing is crap, after all.

Bear with me.

***

Leila Malfoy was growing unbelievably frustrated with her son.

"Mum, I don't _want_ to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I want to stay _here_ with _you_. It's _boring_ over there and they don't even have a yard I can play _Quidditch _in." Scorpius whined, and Leila sighed, buttoning up his coat properly, he had missed a button.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I need a break. You'll only be staying there for a few days, and when you come back, Daddy will give you a present. I promise." Leila said gently, trying to keep her temper intact.

"_Mummy_... I want to stay _here_ with you and _Daddy..._" Scorpius moaned, slumping against his mother, who held him up by the armpits and glared down at him. She knew what was coming.

"Scorpius Lucius Malfoy, stand up and walk out that door or I will take away your broom for one week." Leila said calmly, and Scorpius shook his head.

"I'm not _moving_ until I get to _stay_," He insisted, and Leila hoisted him up and dragged him out to the car, buckling him in securely. He slumped in the seat so that his arm was twisted at an odd angle and he was slouched beneath the range of the belt.

"Scorpius, sit up this instant or I'll take it away for three weeks." Leila threatened, but Scorpius just stayed there silently, slumped in his seat. Leila got into the car, infuriated, and slammed the door, drawing her wand. She righted Scorpius and cast a body bind curse on him so he could not slump again.

"Scorp, blink twice if you agree to sit up like a normal person and behave maturely when I take this curse off of you." Leila said, and Scorpius blinked twice rapidly. Leila knew it was unfair to play off of the claustrophobic feeling he got whenever placed in a body bind curse, but she knew no other way to make him behave when it got this bad. She was only disappointed she had to deal with it at this point in his life... did all parents have to deal with this level of immaturity at the age of eight? And what did _they_ do about it? She released him from his body bind curse after a moment or two, and he burst into tears, glaring at her.

"Mummy, that's not _fair_! I hate that spell! It feels so _scary_!" Scorpius wailed, and he started to kick at the dashboard in frustration.

"Scorpius, it's not fair to make Mummy so angry with you!" Leila argued, knowing her eight year old would never listen to reason.

"I don't care! I don't care about you! I hate you!" Scorpius hollered, and Leila's heart broke into a thousand tiny pieces. She leapt out of the car, tears streaming down her face, and into the wood that surrounded their mansion. She ran for a while, finally running out of breath and settling down on a log. She sat there for a very long time. She wasn't sure how long. All she knew was that dark had settled around her by the time she heard someone crashing through the woods, calling her name.

She didn't respond, and finally, the shadow of a man appeared through a clump of trees about a meter away from her, and he fell onto the ground in front of her, throwing his arms around her gratefully, holding her tightly.

"Leila, dear God, what were you thinking?" Draco asked when he let go of her, and she wiped a tear off of his face. She realized she was shivering.

"I... j-j-just..." Leila was at a loss for words, and Draco studied her for a moment, then scowled.

"Leila... what the fucking hell is wrong with you? I come home at _nine o clock_ to find that our _eight year old son_ is sitting in the dark, alone, bawling his eyes out, _terrified, _because you ran out on him? What the hell happened, Lay?" Draco said sternly, and Leila began to cry tears she didn't think she could have mustered.

"H-h-he said h-h-h-he h-hated m-m-me..." She stammered, teeth chattering. Draco softened a bit, and he cast a warming charm on his wife, then helped her up and led her back to their house, holding her hand tightly. He took her into their bedroom and shut her in there. She listened as Draco collected Scorpius from downstairs, and she heard him tell their son that his mother was going insane in the most gentle way he could.

"Scorp, Mummy's very sick right now, and it will be easier for her to get better if you go stay with your Grandmum and Grandfather for a while. Mummy still loves you very much, and so do I, but she and I need to talk about a few things, so you're going to go to your Grandparents', and I want you to remember that none of this is your fault, okay?" Draco said gently, and Leila heard Scorpius sniffle and mumble a small 'okay' before she heard the distinct _pop_ of her boys Disapparating.

It was several minutes before she heard Draco Apparate back, and he stumbled into their bedroom.

"Dray, I'm so so--"

"Don't apologize, Leila. It's not your fault." Draco said, and he sat down next to his wife and held her as she cried in earnest. She cried for the eight children she had lost since they had had Scorpius. She cried for the pain Scorpius went through... just because they were trying to prevent him from feeling that pain. She cried because there were some things even magic couldn't fix. She cried for a broken body, a body broken at the hands of her father. She cried for everything she had ever wanted... and everything she could never have.

*****

Runes was hard.

That much Renesmee had figured out since McGonnagal had given her some books to look over before the term officially started. She also had no clue what the runes on her wand said. It turned out that the runes they learned were not just one language- they came from all over the world, and she would be studying in great detail _every _rune ever made. And she had missed the first semester of the class, which taught the very first thing you needed to know in order to understand a rune- where it was from. She had a book describing it, but she just didn't think she was getting as much out of it as she could. She sighed and closed the book, sipping the hot chocolate that had been deposited at her bedside by an elf.

Her roommates had not arrived back yet, and she was hoping to start off on a clean slate with them. She needed _someone_ to talk to regularly. Almost as soon as she thought of them, they tumbled, giggling, through the door and flopped down across their beds.

"Oh... _Renesmee_ is here already," one of them whispered loudly, indicating the unpacked trunk at the foot of Ren's bed and the drawn curtains. Renesmee was peering through the crack. She drew one sid of the curtains back warily, and smiled in a friendly manner at her roommates.

"Hey guys. Have a nice break?" She asked, and they started giggling.

"She is so _American_," Someone whispered loudly again, and Ren blushed. She felt this was a little unfair, all though she probably would have been better off using the word _holiday_...

"Well, I would hope so, as that's where I was born and raised." She retorted, sounding braver than she felt.

"Oh, aren't we Miss Cool now that we've been travelling the globe..." another one of the girls sneered, and Ren shrugged.

"I don't know if I would say that, I mean, it was only Greece..." She replied, again with an excess of bravery.

"You are the single most spoiled person I know." Someone complained, and Renesmee felt the burn of tears behind her eyes, but she puffed up her chest and stayed right where she was.

"I disagree. You don't even know me. You've never even given me a chance. You don't even know what I've been through." She started to get choked up a little at the end, thinking of just what exactly she _had_ been through.

"What, did _Mommy_ not spend enough money on clothes for you? Or did she only let you have _one _bedroom at the resort in Greece?" Someone mocked, and Renesmee bolted from the room, hoping to find James in the Common Room. There was no trace of him, so she curled up in a corner and cried as hard as she knew how to.

A little while in to her fit, she heard someone behind her, and she looked up to see an extremely attractive seventh year standing over her.

"Hey. What's up?" He asked, and she just shrugged.

"You wouldn't understand." She mumbled.

"Oh yeah? You wanna bet?" He challenged, and she nodded.

"You probably don't know what it's like to be made fun of just because you're different." Ren pointed out, noting his full on British accent... which wasn't so much an accent when they were here.

"Bingo. You lose." He said, sitting down next to her, "I know exactly what that's like. Some people's parents don't even want me hanging out with their kids because of what I am." He explained, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"What are you?" She asked, and he grinned.

"A werewolf." He said eerily, and Ren glared at him, tears filling her eyes again.

"Shut up. They put you up to this didn't they?" She said angrily, and he looked utterly confused. She didn't quite know how the girls in her dorm would have found out about Jake, but she certainly wasn't happy about it being exploited like this.

"Who put me up to what?" The boy asked, and Ren looked at him. He seemed genuinely confused.

"You are honestly telling me that you're a werewolf?" Ren asked, and the boy nodded.

"Only half. My dad was a werewolf, he got bitten when he was a kid, and now I'm one, too. I don't become a creepy looking beast at the full moon, though, I just become a really friendly dog. It's less painful, too." The boy explained, and Ren relaxed a little.

"Oh, you're not the kind of werewolf I'm thinking of..." She smiled, and he cocked his head.

"There's more than one kind?"

"Yeah. I'm Renesmee, by the way. Renesmee Cullen. Half vampire. Wanna hear my story?" She asked, holding out a hand to him, he took it, and shook.

"Teddy Lupin, at your service," He agreed, and she began to tell him about everything.

******

A/N: Well. Wasn't that lovely? I'll post this now, go to bed, conference with Lily/Filledecriture, and hopefully have another update by Christmas.

Lots of Love, and may your hot cocoa always have a candy cane in it,

Em


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